Food supply and feeding of capelin (Mallotus villosus) of different size in the central latitudinal zone of the Barents Sea during intermediate and warm years

Abstract

Based on data for three years (1984, 1989, and 1992), year-on-year differences in feeding by capelin are demonstrated, depending on their abundance and age composition, and the ambient temperature conditions. Age, seasonal, and local differences in capelin feeding trends are shown. The importance of copepod plankton to young fish, and the transition to consumption of euphausiids and hyperiids by older fish, are clear. A relationship between intensity and duration of feeding, food composition, and capelin fatness is shown. The negative impact of a food competitor, Polar cod, on the nature of capelin feeding (1992) is demonstrated.