FEEDING SELECTIVITY OF JUVENILE CAPE HAKE MERLUCCIUS-CAPENSIS IN THE SOUTHERN BENGUELA

Prey selectivity and feeding behaviour of juvenile shallow-water Cape hake Merluccius capensis are investigated on the basis of material col lected at two sites of contrasting feeding regimes in coastal waters o ff the South African west coast. Hake collected from a site abundant i n zooplankton fed preferentially on relatively large crustaceans (amph ipods, euphausiids and Pasiphaea semispinosa), but apparently ignored the smaller copepods and translucent prey (chaetognaths), despite thes e taxa being both numerically and by mass the dominant potential prey items. At a site dominated by recruits of anchovy Engraulis capensis, die hake were almost exclusively piscivorous. Small hake (10-25 cm) mi grated vertically into subsurface layers to feed on anchovy, whereas l arger fish appeared to remain near the bottom where cannibalism was pr evalent. The present observations demonstrate the importance of vertic al migratory behaviour in the foraging strategy of juvenile M. capensi s.