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Some Notes upon the Feeding Habits of Mackerel and certain Clupeoids in the English Channel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. E. Bullen
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Extract

Several previous authors have shown that the food of the mackerel, when in coastal waters, is of two different kinds, and that the fish adopts two distinct methods of procuring it. In the first place it feeds by a system of filtration upon planktonic organisms, and secondly upon prey of a larger character which is hunted by sight.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , June 1912 , pp. 394 - 403
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1912

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References

page 394 note * Vide Allen, E. J., “Rep. on the Present State of our Knowledge with Regard to the Habits and Migrations of the Mackerel,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., N.S., Vol. V, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 394 note † “Plankton Studies in Relation to the Western Mackerel Fishery,” Journ. Mar. Biol. Assoc., N.S., Vol. XVIII., pp. 285–6.Google Scholar

page 394 note ‡ Id. Table No. IV, Nos. 76 to 83, and Table No. V, No. III.

page 395 note * Op. cit., p. 25.

page 396 note * For the determination of this species the writer is indebted to Mr. W. M. Tattersall, M.Sc.

page 397 note * Vide “Weekly Market Reports,” Fish Trades Gazette.

page 398 note * Cunningham, Mark. Mar. Fishes, p. 315.

page 398 note † Id.

page 399 note * Op. cit., p. 274.

page 399 note † Farran, , Rep. on Sea and Inland Fisheries, Ireland, 1901, Pt. II, p. 122.Google Scholar

page 399 note ‡ In reply to an enquiry respecting this statement Prof. Ehrenbaum wrote: “With reference to your enquiry, I desire to state that in the Heligoland aquarium mackerel, and at certain times also young herring, are kept alive for months, and both species have often been observed feeding in the manner described.

“Personally (and in this statement I think I have the support of many biologists), I consider that it cannot be doubted that all fish, which prey upon plankton, feed by selection. This can easily be demonstrated by an investigation of the stomach contents. Such material is never found to consist of all the various plankton components occurring within the area from whence the fish have been taken, but includes only certain species, which have been selected by the feeding fish.

“In my opinion it is a fallacy that certain fish, e.g. the mackerel, habitually swim round with an open mouth. The filtering apparatus of the gill arches is not intended to collect the plankton about to be swallowed, but serves to protect the tender gill-leaflets from possible damage caused by spurious forms of the plankton, which might occasionally be taken in the act of breathing into the mouth.”

page 399 note § Op. cit., p. 9.

page 399 note ║ The italics have been inserted.

page 400 note * Vide Cligny, A., “Les pretendus migrations du maquereau.” Ann. Sta. Aquicole, Boulogne-sur-mer, Nouv. Ser., Vol. I, 1905.Google Scholar

page 401 note * Dunn, M., “Some Habits of Picked Dogs, Herrings and Pilchards,” 54th Ann. Rep. Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Soc., p. 5.Google Scholar

page 402 note * Op. cit., p. 278 and onward.