NOTE Food and Ontogenetic Shifts in Feeding

• Main Authors: Of The Goosefish, Lophius Americanus, Michael P. Armstrong, John A. Musick, James A. Colvocoresses
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Schroeder; 1953; Scott and Scott; 1988). It is closely; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.594.9796; http://journal.nafo.int/J18/armstrong.pdf

Food habits were studied in goosefish, Lophius americanus, collected off southern New England in the western North Atlantic. Analysis of stomach contents indicated goosefish fed opportunistically on a wide variety of species, primarily fishes. Invertebrates were im-portant in the diet of small (<200 mm total length) goosefish but larger goosefish fed almost exclusively on fishes. In larger goosefish a high incidence of empty stomachs was found, suggesting a low frequency of feeding. Conspecifics were a relatively important prey of larger goosefish.