The Food of the Dogfish, Scyliorhinus Caniculus L.

Extract

During the past eight years records have been kept of the contents of the stomachs of all dogfish dissected in the Zoology Department of Reading University. The specimens, numbering about 450 altogether, came from Swansea Docks, and were caught off the west coasts of the British Isles. Students were asked to spread out the contents of the stomach of the fish they were dissecting in a dish, and to make notes of those animals they could identify. I then, as far as was possible, checked the identifications, and removed for more detailed investigation any specimens of particular interest. In the circumstances it was impossible to make accurate numerical records of each species, or to work out fragments from partially digested material, but the rare specimens were recorded by numbers. Sometimes a record of one means one perfect specimen.