Diet composition of juvenile Dissostichus eleginoides in Subarea 48.3, Dr. Eduardo Holmberg Survey, March/April 1996

BARRERA-ORO E.; CASAUX R.; MARSCHOFF E.

Workshop; The CCAMLR Fish Stock Assessment Working Group; 1996

A diet analysis of the Patagonian toothfishDissostichus eleginoides, trawled in the South GeorgiaIslands area in March?April 1996, was carried out byfrequency of occurrence (F%) and coefficient ??Q?? (%)methods. The samples consisted chiefly of immaturespecimens, with predominant length ranges of 30?70 cm(TL). Fish was by far the main food on the shelves ofShag Rocks and South Georgia, accounting for about70% of prey. Krill appeared as secondary food, althoughits importance was overestimated by the frequencyof occurrence method. Cephalopods and mysidswere infrequent in the stomachs, and only at Shag Rocksand South Georgia, respectively. Lepidonotothen kempi,Champsocephalus gunnari and Chaenocephalus aceratusconstituted the main fish prey and their variability betweenShag Rocks and South Georgia depended on theirlocal abundance. The large proportion of fish exhibitingstomachs full or close to fullness (together 62%) suggeststhat feeding intensity of the species was high.