Distribution and trophic ecology of some gadoid fish of the Norwegian deep

Abstract

The paper concerns the ecology of selected species of the suborder Gadoidei (Pisces, Gadiformes) inhabiting the deeper parts of the northeastern North Sea and Skagerrak. In this final part of the paper, interspecific relationships and comparisons are emphasised. The nine large gadoids considered are primarily benthopelagic and pelagic predators on fish and crustaceans. Because of their abundance and wide distribution, they are key members of the upper part of the food-web in the Norwegian Deep and its slopes. Particularly important trophic relationships exist between the gadoids and the euphausids, caridean decapods and Norway pout. It is likely that the strongest interactions involving the gadoids are of predator-prey type and exist between the most abundant gadoids and their main prey: small saithe and blue whiting as predators and the euphausids as prey, and between saithe and Norway pout. Because it seems unlikely that any of the species, even those showing rather extensive overlaps in their ...