Ecological Interactions between Elasmobranchs and Groundfish Species on the Northeastern U.S. Continental Shelf. I. Evaluating Predation

摘要: Abstract Elasmobranchs are an important component of the northeastern U.S. continental shelf ecosystem in terms both biomass and abundance. It has been hypothesized that because their high these species have a significant negative impact on commercially valuable groundfish via ecological interactions. One hypotheses posits elasmobranchs directly remove such by predation. We analyzed data from stomachs 40,756 spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias, 3,806 smooth Mustelus canis, 17,618 little skate Raja erinacea, 11,593 winter R. ocellata, 2,571 thorny radiata collected bottom trawl surveys conducted principally during spring autumn 1973–1998 waters Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to Nova Scotia. Except for silver hake Merluccius bilinearis, most not common diets elasmobranchs. Estimates consumption indicate number total removed generally...