| Abstrakt: |
Abstract  A total of 148 specimens of Mitsukurina owstoni were examined for morphology, distribution, stomach contents, and reproductive condition. Sixty-nine males (81.7â208.5âcm in total length, TL) and 56 females (92.8â196.1âcm TL) were collected with bottom gillnets along a steep slope of the Tokyo Submarine Canyon (100â350âm depth) from May 1995 to October 1996. In addition, data were obtained from 23 specimens of M. owstoni collected from Sagami Bay, Suruga Bay, and the Enshu-nada Sea from 1972 to 2001. Japanese catch records already published (from 1898) plus those in the present study were from the Pacific coast of Japan, from Choshi to the Kii Peninsula. The main fishing season for M. owstoni by bottom gillnet fishing in the Tokyo Submarine Canyon was October to April, at depths of 200â245âm. No specimens examined were sexually mature, including the largest male (208.5âcm TL) and female (196.1âcm TL) recorded. Of 110 stomachs from specimens from the Tokyo Submarine Canyon, 32 (29.1%) were empty. The remainder variously included teleost fishes, squids, decapods, isopods, digested food, and human refuse. Teleost fishes (Macrouridae sp. and Stomiidae spp.), an isopod (Cymothoidae), and decapods (Pasiphaea sinensis and Sergia sp.) were the only identifiable prey, the indication being that teleosts (all size ranges) were of primary importance as prey for M. owstoni. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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