The basis of food selection in some estuarine fishes. Eels, Anguilla anguilla (L.), whiting, Merlangius merlangus (L.), sprat, Sprattus sprattus (L.) and stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L.

The factors influencing the selection of food by eels, Anguilla anguilla, whiting, Merlanglus merlangius, sprat, Sprattus sprattus, and stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus have been investigated by analysing collections made in the Severn Estuary for 1 year. Non–migratory (yellow) eels measuring from 19–5–56–5 cm in length fed mainly on either the decapod Crangon vulgaris or on the mysid Neomysis integer during the warmer months but ceased to feed in the winter. Whiting measuring between 2–5 and 15 cm fed almost exclusively on C. vulgaris, N. integer and the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus. Sprats fed chiefly on either the arnphipod Gammarus salinus or N. integer. Sticklebacks seldom contained any food in their stomachs despite the presence of large quantities of suitable prey and the high level of hunting efficiency. Gammarus salinus, although normally abundant in the environment, was usually ingested in disproportionately small quantities by all fishes except sprats reflecting its concealment among floating weeds and a selection against small (less than 1 cm) organisms. Because of the limitations of size and the unusually efficient escape reaction of larger animals, only young representatives of Crangon vulgaris were captured. The isopod Eurydice pulchra was rarely eaten by any of the fishes even though it was common in the environment. Burrowing polychaetes, mainly Nereis diversicolor, were never utilized possibly due to the difficulty involved in removing these organisms from the substrate. Neomysis integer was the most frequently consumed organism. Although the average length of prey ingested by the whitings increased with the size of fish, this was not the case for the other species. The proportion of non–feeding eels and the dry weight of stomach contents of this species depended on the temperature of the water but were not related to the availability of prey and tidal conditions whereas the feeding of whiting could not be related to any environmental parameter.