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Stomach contents of small pelagic fishes in the Bay of Biscay
This dataset comprises stomach contents from 2004 to 2022 for the five dominant small pelagic fish species, anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), sardine (Sardina pilchardus), mackerel (Scomber scombrus), sprat (Sprattus, sprattus) and horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) on the french shelf of the Bay of Bisacy in spring. The dataset represents a unique long-term monitoring of stomach contents characterized with a low taxonomic resolution and semi-quantitative abundance quotation. The data were acquired on the PELGAS survey series. This integrated survey is run in each year in May since 2000, to monitor the Bay of Biscay pelagic ecosystem at springtime and assess the biomass of its small pelagic fish species. Survey protocols are detailed in Doray et al. 2018. During the survey, pelagic trawl hauls are undertaken to identify echotraces to species and to measure individual fish traits. All hauls are performed during day time. The fish stomachs were sampled from the haul catch. For a given species, twenty individuals were selected at random from the catch, their stomachs dissected and preserved. This was repeated at three hauls in each of the ten spatial strata defined to cover the entire Biscay shelf. Stomach sampling by species depended on the trawl haul catch and all species were not systematically sampled jointly at the same trawl haul. Also, stomach sampling intensity varied between species and years. The stomachs were preserved in formaline until 2018 and in ethanol since. The taxonomic analysis of stomach contents was performed in the laboratory under a binocular magnifyer by the company LAPHY. A simplified taxonomic resolution was used, which considered five icthtyoplankton groups, two copepod groups, euphausids or mysids, amphipods, two decapod groups, other crustacea, other zooplankton, phytoplankton and pulp. Taxon abundance was defined by a quotation : 0 (absence), 1 (presence : <10 individuals), 2 (abundant : between 10 and 100), 3 (very abundant : > 100). The dataset comprises trawl haul information, information on the quality of the stomach contents and abundance quotes for the list of plankton taxons.
Disciplines
Fisheries and aquaculture
Keywords
Stomach contents, diet, small pelagic fish, Bay of Biscay
Location
48.201915N, 43.108133S, -0.516357E, -5.767822W
Devices
At sea the R/V Thalassa was equiped with two two-door pelagic trawls (Brabant and Nedelec, 1988 for detailed plans). One trawl had a headline of 76 m and a foot rope of 70 m and the other trawl dimensions were 57 m x 52 m. This latter trawl was operated when bottom depths were below 50 m. The trawl was hauled close to bottom (mainly) or surface, depending on the fish school echotraces to catch. The fish stomachs were dissected onboard and preserved in formaldehyde. In the laboratory, zooplankton taxonomic groups in the stomach contents were identified under a binocular stereomicroscope.