Food, Feeding Habits, and Estimates of Daily Ration of the Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the Northwest Atlantic

Abstract

Analyses of the stomach contents of 399 male and female mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) ranging from 67 to 328 cm are presented. Samples are from shark fishing tournaments held in New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and from longline catches taken between Cape Hatteras and the Grand Banks. Teleost remains occur in 67% of the stomachs with bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) constituting 77.5% of the diet by volume. Bluefish is the major inshore food item. Cephalopoda amount to 15% of the stomach contents by frequency of occurrence and are consumed primarily offshore. Consumption and diet are the same for both sexes. The average capacity of the stomach is 10% of the body weight. Estimates of daily ration average 2 kg (range from 1.4 to 2.7 kg). Makos may consume 4.3 to 14.5% of the available bluefish resource in the area between Cape Hatteras, NC, and Georges Bank.Key words: shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus; elasmobranchs, food habits, stomach content analyses, daily ration, Pomatomus saltatrix, biomass