Synopsis
Food consumption by the holocephalanCallorhynchus callorhynchus, the ‘cock fish’, was studied in the northern San Matías Gulf, Argentine Patagonia. Relative gut fullness was assessed objectively with reference to estimated maximum fullness. Analysis of stomach contents of samples from the commercial catch shows maximum gut fullness during the spring. No diel cycle in gut fullness could be detected in the course of an experimental survey. Rate of gastroenteric emptying was estimated on board a research vessel by sacrificing at varying time periods fish kept in circulating sea water. Daily consumption rate by an adult fish of average size was estimated to be 1.4% of its body weight, very close to figures estimated for elasmobranchs from cold temperate waters; this is the first estimation of consumption rate by a holocephalan. Approximately half of the cock fish diet is composed of scallops, including the commercially importantAequipecten tehuelchus. It was calculated that consumption of this species in the study area reaches 81 metric tons per month, which corresponds to 5–7% of its estimated natural mortality.
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Di Giácomo, E., Parma, A.M. & Orensanz, J.M. Food consumption by the cock fish,Callorhynchus callorhynchus (Holocephali: Callorhynchidae), from Patagonia (Argentina). Environ Biol Fish 40, 199–211 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002546
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002546