Different food preferences in four sympatric deep-sea Macrourid fishes

摘要: Feeding habits of the four most abundant deep-sea demersal trawl-caught macrourids on Chatham Rise, New Zealand, were examined from stomach contents. Two species predominantly benthic foragers: Coelorinchus bollonsi infaunal and epifaunal polychaetes, C. aspercephalus crustaceans; two mesopelagic foragers; oliverianus calanoid copepods, Lepidorhynchus denticulatus crustaceans. The important predictors diet variability identified using distance-based linear models included areal in all species, fish size aspercephalus, L. denticulatus, sample year bollonsi. Cluster analyses showed that diets distinct. There was a greater interspecific similarity spatial subgroups than at level. Failing to account for areal, temporal, ontogenetic may bias evaluations resource competition.