DIET OF BALLAN WRASSE, LABRUS-BERGYLTA, AND SOME COMPARISONS WITH THEDIET OF CORKWING WRASSE, CRENILABRUS-MELOPS

The gut contents of 99 ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta: Teleostei; Labr idae) sampled between April and July in Galway Bay, Ireland and 95 bal lan wrasse sampled between April and June in Dinard, Brittany, France were examined. Decapods and bivalves were the major prey categories in both areas, algae and gastropods were also frequently eaten but in mu ch smaller amounts. The volume of the major food categories did not va ry significantly with fish length. However, fish longer than 20 cm did consume greater volumes of bivalves than smaller fish. An increase in dietary diversity during the breeding season was observed. Ballan and corkwing (Crenilabrus melops) exploited many of the same food categor ies but with different emphases. Bivalves, which were major prey of co rkwing, were also very important to the ballan captured simultaneously at the same site.