DIETS OF SQUID LOLIGO-FORBESI AND LOLIGO-VULGARIS IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC

Diets of the loliginid squid Loligo forbesi and Loligo vulgaris were i nvestigated by stomach contents sampling during 1990-1993. Monthly sam ples of Loligo forbesi were collected at Aberdeen and additional sampl es were obtained from the Irish Sea, Faroe, the English Channel, Vigo, Lisbon and the Azores. Samples of Loligo vulgaris were obtained from Vigo, Barcelona, Lisbon and Fare. Loligo forbesi feeds primarily on fi shes, crustaceans and cephalopods. In Scottish waters, Gadidae (mainly Merlangius merlangus and Trisopterus sp.), Ammodytidae and Clupeidae were the most frequently identified prey. The relative importance of f ish was slightly higher, and that of crustaceans lower, in the diet of larger squid. Gadidae and Clupeidae were more prominent in the winter diet, with sandeels being taken more frequently in the summer. The sa me prey taxa were important in the diet of Loligo forbesi across all a reas. Fishes occurred in more than 80% of nonempty stomachs except for the Lisbon sample, in which crustaceans were the most frequently iden tified prey taxon. The species composition of the diet varied between areas. Thus, scad Trachurus picturatus was the most important prey in the Azores. The broad composition of the diet in Loligo vulgaris was s imilar, although crustaceans were apparently less important, but there were differences in species eaten between areas, and between the two Loligo species. Samples of the ommastrephid squid Todaropsis eblanae t aken at Aberdeen indicated that this species was also primarily pisciv orous, taking Gadidae and Clupeidae.