Larval fish stomach content database from Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Canada

The data for this study are from a sub-Arctic coastal ecosystem (1000 km2) in the northwest Atlantic. The aim of the collection was to characterize the prey of the larvae of important fish species that occur in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. Plankton was sampled fortnightly from late May until late September in 1986 and 1987 at three locations on the eastern shore of Conception Bay (47°45′N, 53°00′W), Newfoundland, Canada. Ichthyoplankton were collected using a 0.75 m ring net, fitted with 165 μm nitex and a General Oceanics flow meter, and towed at a depth of 5-10 m at a speed of 0.3-0.5 m s-1 for 10 minutes. Zooplankton samples were obtained using a similar ring net fitted with 64 μm nitex which was towed along the same path immediately following ichthyoplankton sampling. Samples were preserved in 4% buffered formaldehyde. The sampling of zooplankton does not provide a good approximation of the density of potential prey < 65 μm), but post hoc analysis revealed this size category of prey represented a very small fraction of all prey items found in the guts of larval fish from this database (~ 2%). It is important to note that net sampling did not provide accurate estimates of the…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

3

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-03-24