DIET OF THE SIXGILL SHARK HEXANCHUS-GRISEUS OFF SOUTHERN AFRICA

The sixgill shark Hexanchus griseus is a large, active, deep-water spe cies that typically occurs along the outer continental shelves and the ir upper slopes. Stomach analysis was performed on 137 specimens colle cted off Namibia and South Africa. The major prey groups were cephalop ods, teleosts, chondrichthyans and marine mammals. Dietary changes of sixgill sharks are related to growth. In most of their area of distrib ution, sixgill sharks have few comparable competitors, because sympatr ic squaloids and lamnoids of equivalent size feed at a lower trophic l evel.