Vertical distribution and diet of Stenobrachius nannochir (Myctophidae) in the southern Bering Sea, summer, 1987

• Main Authors: Furuhashi,Masahiro, Shimazaki,Kenji
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Research Institute of North Pacific Fisheries, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University/Research Institute of North Pacific Fisheries, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University 1989
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Pacific; Polar Biology; Proceedings of the NIPR Symposium on Polar Biology; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=5055; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00005055/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=5055&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

The vertical distribution and diet of the myctophid species Stenobrachius 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, Eucalanus 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.