Lophius americanus, Valenciennes, 1837

3.3.4 | L. americanus View in CoL

Stomach contents of L. americanus were dominated by piscine prey, including a variety of taxa but mostly consisting of gadiforms ( M. bilinearis , E. cimbrius , Urophycis spp. ), clupeiforms (alosines, C. harengus ), pleuronectiforms, and unclassified teleosts (Figure 3; Table S3). The relatively small contribution of invertebrates in L. americanus diets consisted mostly of pandalid shrimp and cephalopods. None of the CCA terms explained more variation in L. americanus diet composition than expected by random chance ( n = 34 tows with ≥ 4 stomach samples); thus, the final CCA model for L. americanus included only the intercept. However, three seasonal differences in L. americanus diets were significant, with greater consumption (tow-level proportional mass) of E. cimbrius , pandalids, and unclassified crustaceans in spring compared to fall (Table S4). Two correlations by longitude were also significant, with greater relative consumption of snake blenny Ophidion barbatum L. 1758 in more eastern longitudes and Atlantic mackerel Scomber scombrus L. 1758 in more western longitudes (Figure S16). Consumption of pandalids was negatively correlated with temperature, whereas consumption of U. chuss was positively correlated with temperature (Figure S16).