THE DISTRIBUTION AND DIET OF THE DOMINANT, SLOPE-DWELLING EEL, SYNAPHOBRANCHUS-KAUPI, OF THE ROCKALL TROUGH

The deep-sea eel, Synaphobranchus kaupi (Pisces: Synaphobranchidae), i s a dominant species on the continental slopes of the North Atlantic. In earlier studies of the Rockall Trough, north-eastern Atlantic, its abundance was underestimated because the types of bottom trawl used on ly caught the largest specimens, which occur at the greatest depth. Th e use of a semi-balloon trawl (OTSB) fished on a single warp has revea led that it is the most abundant species on the slopes of the Rockall Trough. This paper describes some aspects of the biology, especially f eeding, of this important species.