The diet of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena (L.)) in coastal waters of Eastern Canada, with special reference to the Bay of Fundy

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Abstract
Stomach contents of 81 harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena (L.)) collected from eastern Canadian coastal waters during 1969–1972 were examined. A total of 454 free otoliths and 54 undigested specimens representing a minimum of 281 fish, consisting of nine species in seven families, were recovered from the copious semidigested fish remains found in 52 of the stomachs. Clupea harengus (herring), Gadus morhua (cod), and Scomber scombrus (mackerel) otoliths accounted for more than 78% of the total. Osmerus mordax (smelt), Pollachius virens (pollock), Merluccius bilinearis (silver hake), Sebastes marinus (redfish), and Macrozoarces americanus (ocean pout) otoliths were also identified. Squid (Illex sp.), hagfish (Myxine glutinosa), and polychaetes (Nereis sp.) were identified in a few stomachs. Fifteen of the stomachs examined were empty or contained only fluid. Examination of the stomachs of the 16 smallest animals indicated that weaning occurred at body lengths of 100–104 cm.

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