Feeding relationships of seven fish species from the campbell plateau, New Zealand

Abstract

Aspects of feeding relationships between hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae), southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis), javelin fish (Lepidorhynchus denticulatus), ling (Genypterus blacodes), smooth rattail (Coelorinchus aspercephalus), silverside (Argentina elongata), and small-scaled notothenid (Notothenia microlepidota) were examined. These included dietary overlap, predator-prey size selection, feeding diversity, and similarity of prey composition of fishes caught in the same trawl. ‘Pelagic’ and ‘benthic’ feeding guilds are described and the extent of food resource partitioning among the fishes is discussed. Spatial and temporal feeding differences, and variations in prey type and prey size were evident for most of the fishes. © 1985 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.