Table 5 Percentage of frequency occurrence (I O), numerical abundance (I N) and biomass (I W) of meiofauna prey groups found in the diet of the studied fish species per season
From: Meiofauna as food source for small-sized demersal fish in the southern North Sea
Prey groups | Jan 09 | May 09 | Jul 09 | Oct 09 | Jan 10 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I O (%) | I N (%) | I W (%) | I O (%) | I N (%) | I W (%) | I O (%) | I N (%) | I W (%) | I O (%) | I N (%) | I O (%) | I N (%) | I W (%) | I W (%) | |
B. luteum | |||||||||||||||
Harpacticoids | 66.6 | 96.5 | 99.9 | 26.4 | 76.1 | 99.9 | 89.8 | 99.7 | 99.9 | 98.9 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 92.6 | 99.3 | 99.9 |
Bivalves | 33.4 | 3.5 | 0.1 | 73.6 | 23.9 | 0.1 | 10.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 7.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
Number of stomachs | 350 | 296 | 295 | 273 | 215 | ||||||||||
P. minutus | |||||||||||||||
Harpacticoids | 78.9 | 72.2 | 97.0 | 60.8 | 20.1 | 98.2 | 81.7 | 58.9 | 99.0 | 92.0 | 98.1 | 97.1 | 72.9 | 78.2 | 97.1 |
Bivalves | – | – | – | 45.4 | 21.2 | 0.2 | – | – | – | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | – | – | – |
Ostracods | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 9.1 | 8.2 | 0.4 | 3.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
Nematodes | 21 | 27.4 | 2.8 | 27.3 | 72.8 | 1.8 | 11.5 | 40.5 | 1.1 | – | – | – | 16.7 | 21.2 | 2.8 |
Number of stomachs | 136 | 120 | 26 | 294 | 65 | ||||||||||
A. laterna | |||||||||||||||
Harpacticoids | 93.7 | 88.3 | 99.8 | 92.9 | 72.0 | 99.9 | – | – | – | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Bivalves | 6.3 | 11.7 | 0.2 | 7.1 | 28.0 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Number of stomachs | 158 | 28 | 71 | 169 | 66 | ||||||||||
L. limanda | |||||||||||||||
Harpacticoids | 94.2 | 96.4 | 99.8 | 79.5 | 90.9 | 99.7 | 90.3 | 98.5 | 99.8 | 97.7 | 99.4 | 99.9 | 92.6 | 95.5 | 99.9 |
Bivalves | 5.8 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 9.3 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 7.4 | 4.5 | 0.1 |
Ostracods | – | – | – | 20.0 | 9.1 | 0.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Number of stomachs | 111 | 50 | 226 | 122 | 69 | ||||||||||