Cephalopods in the diet of the sowrdfish, Xiphas gladius, from the Florida Straits
An analysis was conducted on the cephalopod remains from the stomachs of 65 swordfish, Xiphias gladius, from the Florida Straits. Results indicated that cephalopods contribute a large proportion of the total ration of food items, accounting for over 90% of total weight on contents in 69% of the stom...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
1981
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| Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/50722/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/50722/1/2941.pdf |
| Summary: | An analysis was conducted on the cephalopod remains from the stomachs of 65 swordfish, Xiphias gladius, from the Florida Straits. Results indicated that cephalopods contribute a large proportion of the total ration of food items, accounting for over 90% of total weight on contents in 69% of the stomachs. Of these, ommastrphid squid of the genus Illex represented the single most important prey items. In total, 15 species of caphalopods were encountered, consisting of 13 teuthoids and 2 octopods. This previously unrecognized diversity confirmed the earlier postulated opportunistic feeding strategy of X. gladius. Cephalopod, fish, and crustacean remains are reported in terms of frequency of occurence and biomass. Analysis of the vertical distribution of cephalopod prey indicated that swordfish feeding is most concentrated in epipelagic and upper mesopelagic waters. Comparisons with feeding studies on billfishes from the western North Atlantic indicated that istiophoris may rely more heavily on finish prey than squid in contrast with the present findings for X. gladius. Also, octopods may contribute a greater proportion of the cephalopod of total ration in the istiohoris than X. gladius. |
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