VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION AND DIET OF STENOBRACHIUS NANNOCHIR (MYCTOPHIDAE) IN THE SOUTHERN

• Main Authors: Bering Sea, Masahiro Furuhashi, Kenji Shimazaki
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Pacific; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.515.406; http://polaris.nipr.ac.jp/~penguin/polarbiosci/issues/pdf/1989-Furuhashi.pdf

Abstract: The vertical distribution and diet of the myctophid species Steno-brachius nannochir were examined on samples collected at various mesopelagic depths (>600m) day and night in the southern Bering Sea, in June and July 1987. This species exhibited no diel variation in vertical distribution, remaining at a depth of about 600m. Stomachs were examined from 226 specimens. The diet was dominated by copepoda, mostly Calanus plumchrus, Calanus cristatus, Euca-lanus bungii bungii and Metridia pacifica. The stomach fullness and prey digestive stage indicated little evidence of feeding periodicity, suggesting that S. nannochir is an acyclic predator among the family Myctophidae. The acyclic feeding by this non-migrating myctophid appears to adapt it to exploit efficiently the broad vertical distribution and abundance of prey in the subarctic Pacific Ocean. 1.