Stomach contents of crabs and bottomfish from Alice Arm, Hastings Arm, Observatory Inlet and Nass River, B.C., October, 1983 / S.C. Byers, B.J. Reid and M.A. Farrell.: Fs97-4/1771E-PDF

"Stomach contents of Golden king crabs, Lithodes aequispina (Benedict), Tanner crabs, Chionoecetes bairdi (Rathbun) and eight species of cod-like fishes and flounders from the vicinity of Alice Arm, B.C. were examined quantitatively. Ophiuroidea was the dominant prey taxon of the Golden king crab in terms of percentage wet weight and frequency of occurrenc. Tanner crabs fed predominantly on Annelida (polychaeta), Arthropoda (mainly shrimp) and Mollusca (mainly the bivalve Transennella tantilla). The stomachs of both the Golden king crab and the Tanner crab from Alice Arm and Hastings Arm were substantially less full than the stomach of Tanner crab from Observatory Inlet. Arthropoda (hyperbenthic shrimp) was the dominant prey group of the cod-like fishes. The five species of flounders fed predominantly on infauna (polychaetes and bivalves), and epifauna (hermit crabs and brittle stars). The quantity of food consumed by flounders from Alice Arm and Hastings Arm was less than that consumed by the flounders from Nass River and Observatory Inlet. The index of fullness for cod-like fishes was generally greater than that for flounders reflecting the differences in feeding behaviour and habitat of preferred prey items (hyperbenthic versus benthic). The effect of the Amax mine tailings discharge on benthic invertebrate density is discussed in terms of potential prey availability to crabs and flounders in Alice Arm"--Abstract, page viii.

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