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Estimates of daily food intake by an inshore population of Pleuronectes platessa L. off eastern Anglesey, North Wales
Author(s) -
Basimi R. A.,
Grove D. J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1985.tb03198.x
Subject(s) - pleuronectes , biology , fishery , predation , fish <actinopterygii> , population , zoology , digestion (alchemy) , spring (device) , body weight , ecology , chemistry , demography , chromatography , sociology , endocrinology , mechanical engineering , engineering
A sequence of trawl surveys showed that the diet of plaice off eastern Anglesey was dominated by Abra alba in spring and summer, and by Pectinaria koreni in early spring and autumn. Plaice ate little food in winter. Despite the relatively small stomach in this species, plaice were able to achieve high rates of daily food intake during bouts of heavy feeding by rapidly transferring newly‐ingested prey items into the anterior intestine without full gastric digestion. Seasonal daily feeding rates (percentage body weight) varied between 5 and 10% for small fish (15–20 cm total length), 3 and 12% for medium fish (20–25 cm) and 2.8 and 4.4% for large fish (30–35 cm).