A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE FEEDING-HABITS OF HERRING (CLUPEA-HARENGUS, CLUPEIDAE, L) AND CAPELIN (MALLOTUS-VILLOSUS, OSMERIDAE, MULLER) IN THE BARENTS SEA

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) and adolescent Norwegian spring spawning h erring (Clupea harengus) co-occur in the southern Barents Sea during e arly summer. The diets of both species were dominated by calanoid cope pods, and the overlap in diet was large. Both for herring and capelin the proportion of copepods in the diet decreased with increasing fish size, while euphausiids and appendicularians increased in importance. The ontogenetic shift in diet was thus similar for the two species. He rring showed an increasingly deeper distribution with increasing body size. Capelin were found deeper than herring in areas of spatial overl ap. Based on the similarities in diet it is concluded that the two spe cies are potential competitors for food in times of high abundance of planktivores or of low food availability in the Barents Sea.