Habitat Preference and Feeding Habits of Juvenile Whitespotted Conger <I>Conger myriaster</I> in the Eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan

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From 2003 to 2008, we tried to collect newly settled juvenile whitespotted conger in four areas of the northeastern Harima Nada Sea, eastern part of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. We also investigated the relation between the stomach contents of juveniles (78-259 mm TL) and benthos composition at the sampling sites. No juveniles were taken from the sand bottom area, but they were collected from the gravel bottom and sand-mud bottom areas. Main stomach contents of the juveniles were crustaceans, polychaetes and teleosts. Crustaceans were strongly preferred being the most common and numerically important prey. Juveniles first fed on amphipods and, with growth, shifted their prey to decapods, polychaetes and teleosts. CPUEs (catch per unit effort) of the juveniles from the sand-mud bottom were significantly higher than those from the gravel bottom, although the crustacean biomass on the gravel bottom was more abundant than those on the other bottoms. These results suggest that, when the juveniles settle, they prefer the sand-mud bottom to the gravel bottom and choose their habitat not by the food environment but by the sediment type. We consider that the sand-mud bottom area is a nursery ground of the juveniles.
日本水産増殖学会の論文