THE COMPARATIVE FEEDING ECOLOGY OF TEMPERATE AND TROPICAL DEEP-SEA FISHES FROM THE WESTERN NORTH-ATLANTIC

A study of the feeding habits of 32 species of fishes from the continental slope, rise, and abyss of temperate and tropical regions of the western North Atlantic was conducted to ascertain if regional faunal differences were related to differences in trophic structure. Fishes consumed a wide variety of benthic and pelagic prey and appear to have diets comparable to their counterparts on the continental shelf. Commonly occurring small to moderate sized species fed predominately on small crustaceans and polychaetes, while less common large-bodied species ingested decapods and teleosts and displayed ontogenetic shifts in diets. In some cases, presence or absence of a particular taxon from the respective areas appears related to food availability, although no single causal factor adequately explains all of the observed faunal differences.