Food habits of the smooth dogfish, Mustelus canis, dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus, Atlantic sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, and the sand tiger, Carcharias taurus, from the northwest Atlantic Ocean

Diet and feeding habits of the smooth dogfish, Mustelus canis, Atlantic sha rpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, dusky Carcharhinus obscurus, and the sa nd tiger, Carcharias taurus sharks, were investigated through analysis of s tomach contents. Diet in ill. canis was relatively homogeneous and was domi nated by crustaceans, consisting mostly of rock crabs, Cancer irroratus. Di et in R. terraenovae was more heterogeneous and consisted largely of crusta ceans and teleosts, in similar levels of prey importance. Use of cumulative prey curves as a measure of precision indicated that data were insufficien t to fully describe the diets of C. obscurus and C. taurus. Nonetheless, th ese data suggested that both species are generalized feeders and consume a variety of teleost and elasmobranch prey. Further studies are necessary to fully characterize diet in these two species.