The food habits· of sixteen species . of fish collected in the region of the Arqo Merchant oil spill. Laboratory Reference No

• Main Authors: Ri Chard W. Langton, Ray E C Bowman
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1977
• Subjects: atlantic cod
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.423.5096; http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/publications/series/whlrd/whlrd7704.pdf

The impact of the ARGO MERCHANT oil-spill on the food habits of 16 species of fish was assessed. The major food items differed little from data previously collected o ~ the food habits of the same fish species. Of the 305 fish examined an oil like material was found in the stomachs of 3 % of the Atlantic cod and 1.5 % of the little skate. Since 1963 more than 38,000 stomachs, repres~nting 82 species of fish, have been analyzed at the Northeast Fisheries Center. No oil like materials have previously been identified in the stomach contents. INTRODUCTION. Followtng the ARGO MERCHANT oil spill (December, 1976) two cruises "/ere organized by the Northeast Fisheries Cen~r to assess the potential impact of the oil on the fish stocks in the Southern New England and Georges Bank region. The purpose of this report is to describe the feeding habits