Change in prey selectivity during the larval life of Atlantic cod in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence

Abstract

Atlantic cod larvae showed strong selectivity for the medium-size calanoid copepod Pseudocalanus spp. Naupliar stages comprised 62.4% of total prey number in the gut of first-feeding larvae. Selectivity shifted to Pseudocalanus spp. females at the mid-larval stage, representing 43% of all prey ingested by >12 mm larvae.