Feeding Habits of Fish Species Distributed on the Grand Bank (NAFO Divisions 3NO, 2002-2005)

• Main Authors: González-Iglesias, María de la Concepción, Paz, Xabier, Román-Marcote, Esther, Hermida-Doval, María
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo; Pesquerías; Arctic; Greenland; atlantic cod; North Atlantic; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/690; http://hdl.handle.net/10261/329132

24197 stomach contents corresponding to 17 fish species of the Grand Bank in the period 2002-2005 were analyzed. Importance of prey was based in weight percentage. Feeding intensity was high for most species (>75%). Greenland halibut and northern wolffish were the species with the lowest feeding intensity (<45%). This index showed a trend to decrease with the increase of predator size and depth range. Round skate and witch flounder were specialist species with a little niche width, and black dogfish turned up to the most generalist species in feeding habits. A high number of prey in sotmach contents was common, but most part of stomach contents were compound of between 2 and 8 prey, which supplied >70% of the total weight. Greenland halibut, Arctic and spynitail skates were piscivorous species. Roundnose grenadier, redfish and smooth skate showed pelagic, bathypelagic or epifaunal crustacean feeding habits, and northern wolffish was pelagic invertebrate organism feeder on ctenophores. Roughhead grenadier and yellowtail flounder were benthic predators on different prey species, scyphozoans and crustaceans respectively, and polychaetes were common in the diet of both species. Witch flounder and round skate were polychaete feeders on bottom benthos. Atlantic and spotted wolffish showed a diet primarily based on benthic and bottom organisms with predominance of different prey in each species. Black dogfish preyed on benthic groups (crustaceans, scyphozoans and fishes), like American plaice (echinoderms, fishes and crustaceans). Thorny skate and Atlantic cod showed similar diets based on fishes and crustaceans. Specific predation and diet overlap observed among some species changed with depth.