title: [Diet composition and ontogenetic variation in feeding habits of Cleithenes herzensteini in central Yellow Sea].
abstract: In the bottom trawl surveys in central Yellow Sea from January 2004 to October 2005, 622 samples of plaice Cleithenes herzensteini were collected, and their stomach contents were analyzed. The results indicated that the prey items of the plaice included 11 groups or 38 prey species, but only Crustacea and Lamellibranchia were the most important prey groups, accounting for 99% of the total food composition by percentage of index of relative importance. Euphausia pacific, Crangon affinis and Tellinidae were the dominant prey species. Comparing with the 1980s, the feeding activity of plaice declined significantly, and the diet composition changed. Fishes were no longer the dominant prey, and the proportion of anchovy in the diet decreased. Cluster analysis and two-way contingency table analysis were used to study the ontogenetic variations in the feeding habits of plaice, and the results showed that the feeding activity of plaice did not vary significantly among 7 size classes within the size between 51 mm and 370 mm, but ontogenetic variations were found in the diet composition. In the size class < 119 mm, the diet mainly included Euphausiacea and Decapoda. In the diets of fish with the size between 120 mm and 199 mm, the proportion of Lamellibranchia and fishes increased markedly. In the size class > 200 mm, plaice mainly fed on Decapoda and fishes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Sustainable Utilization of Marine Fisheries Resource of Agriculture Ministry, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China. Zhangbo@ysfri.ac.cn
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D002681:China; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005399:Fishes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D009792:Oceans and Seas