Food, Feeding Habits, and Estimates of Daily Ration of the Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the Northwest Atlantic

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Abstract
Analyses of the stomach contents of 399 male and female mako sharks (I. oxyrinchus) ranging from 67-328 cm are presented. Samples are from shark fishing tournaments held in New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island [USA], and from longline catches taken between Cape Hatteras [North Carolina, USA] and the Grand Banks. Teleost remains occur in 67% of the stomachs with bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) constituting 77.5% of the diet by volume. Bluefish is the major inshore food item. Cephalopoda amount to 15% of the stomach contents by frequency of occurrence and are consumed primarily offshore. Consumption and diet are the same for both sexes. The average capacity of the stomach is 10% of the body weight. Estimates of daily ration average 2 kg (range from 1.4-2.7 kg). Makos may consume 4.3-14.5% of the available bluefish resource in the area between Cape Hatteras and Georges Bank.

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