Occurrence and feeding of berycomorphid and percomorphid teleost fish in the Rockall Trough

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Abstract
Some 17 species of berycomorphid and percomorphid teleost fish occurred in pelagic and demersal samples taken in the Rockall Trough during the period 1973 to 1981. Demersal trawls were deployed at approximately 250 m bathymetric intervals between 400 and 2900 m depth. Pelagic rectangular midwater trawls were fished open to depths of approximately 2500 m. The most common species caught were Hoplostethus atlanticus, a subdominant among the species caught in the 1000 to 1250 m bathymetric zones, and Epigonus telescopus and Aphanopus carbo, subdominants among the species caught in the 500 to 750 m zones. The majority of the other species were rare in the samples. Hoplostethus atlanticus and Epigonus telescopus, whose distributions do not overlap bathymetrically, both exploit the benthopelagic fauna. Aphanopus carbo prey primarily on other fish. The exploiters of the epibenthos are Beryx decadactylus, Lycodes spp., Cataetyx laticeps, and Spectrunculus grandis. The rare Nesiarchus nasutus may exploit benthopelagic prey while the remaining eight species are primarily meso- and bathypelagic. Three of them, however, also exploit benthopelagic prey to varying degrees; they are Scopelogadus beanii, Poromitra crassiceps, and possibly Melanostigma atlanticum.

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