Dissection of freshly eaten prey suggests that the North Pacific daggertooth Anotopterus nikparini sever the spine of small prey with a single slashing blow. The bite marks indicate that the immobilized prey is manipulated and swallowed head first. Frequent evidence suggests daggertooth wound prey which are too large to consume whole by cutting off strips of flesh. In either case the wounds consist of a single prominent slash mark on one side and a series of inconspicuous marks on the opposite side. Retinal morphology provides supporting evidence that daggertooths are visual ambush predators that attack prey from below, and should be considered as epipelagic rather than mesopelagic fish. Visual acuity appears to be high, suggesting that frequent attacks on prey too large to be killed immediately is not error, but a well-defined feeding behaviour. The daggertooth may be a significant source of mortality for economically important fish such as all sizes of salmon.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Fisheries sciences
Research Field:	Aquaculture
Objective Division:	Animal Production and Animal Primary Products
Objective Group:	Fisheries - aquaculture
Objective Field:	Fisheries - aquaculture not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Pankhurst, PM (Dr Tish Pankhurst)
ID Code:	21158
Year Published:	2001
Web of Science® Times Cited:	1
Deposited By:	TAFI - Aquaculture
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-11-04
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