Food and Feeding Patterns of Cod (Gadus morhua L.) and Beaked Redfish (Sebastes mentella Travin) on Flemish Cap

NAFO Sci. Coun. Studies, 19:31-39

L. K. Albikovskaya and O. V. Gerasimova

Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO)
6 Knipovich Street, Murmansk 183763, USSR

Abstract

Food and feeding patterns of cod (Gadus morhua L.) and beaked redfish (Sebastes mentella Travin) were considered for the period 1981-88. Cod feeding intensity increased in spring-summer. Hyperiids formed a major part of young cod diet while juvenile beaked redfish and shrimp were the most important in adult fish. Beaked redfish feeding intensity increased in the summer as the zooplankton biomass increased. The consumption of zooplankton consisted primarily of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus. The annual amounts of hyperiids consumed by juvenile beaked redfish and the beaked redfish juveniles consumed by adult cod were estimated.