The spatial distributions and feeding habits of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) larvae, and the spatial distributions of copepod nauplii and copepodites, their main prey, were examined in Mutsu Bay from February to March during 1989–92. Yolk‐sac larvae were caught at 30–45 m depth at the bay mouth. Larvae without yolk were collected at 8–45 m depth at the bay mouth and the inner part of the bay, and large larvae were chiefly found in the bay. This geographical pattern in larval size may have been because of transport to the inner part of Mutsu Bay by the Tsugaru Warm Current. The dominant taxa of copepod nauplii and copepodites in the diet and the environment changed each year. Larvae fed mainly on abundant taxa in the environment, suggesting that larvae are opportunistic feeders. Nauplii and copepodites were abundant in the bay, especially in 1992. Copepodites were slightly more abundant in the diet of cod larvae in 1992 than in 1991, but this difference was smaller than in the environment. In addition, larvae with empty digestive tracts were scarce in 1991 and 1992. Prey concentrations in the bay in 1991 and 1992 seem to have been high enough to sustain most Pacific cod larvae.

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The winter energy deficit and mortality of juvenile walleye pollock at extremely cold temperature were examined by field observations and laboratory experiments. In the Doto area, along the northern coast of Japan, juvenile walleye pollock resided on the continental shelf despite extremely cold temperatures (mean 0Á4°C) during the latter half of winter (March to April). Measurements of the rate of energy depletion (equivalent to the routine metabolic rate) revealed that juvenile walleye pollock consumed 37% less energy at 0Á5°C than at 2Á0°C, suggesting an energetic benefit of residence in cold water (<1Á0°C) over the shelf during winter. Prior to the starvation experiments, temperatures and ration level in the holding tanks were adjusted to create two different body condition groups of fish. Under the thermal condition of the latter half of winter (0Á5°C), fish with a mean condition factor of 0Á6 and 0Á5 suffered 19Á1 and 74Á5% mortality, respectively, at the end of the experiments (after 56 days). The residual analysis of total body energy demonstrated that the cause of mortality was mainly associated with the depletion of energy reserves. When a logistic regression model for mortality derived from the experiments was applied to wild fish collected in March, the estimated overwintering mortality in 2004 and 2005 was 25Á4 and <2Á3%, respectively, assuming no feeding during the winter. Considering that juvenile walleye pollock feed during winter as shown in previous studies, intense overwintering mortality induced by energy depletion is improbable during the latter half of winter in the Doto area.

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Seasonal energy allocation and deficits of marine juvenile fishes have considerable effects on their survival. To explore the winter survival mechanism of marine fishes with low lipid reserves in their early life, juvenile walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma were collected along the continental shelf of northern Japan over a 2-year period, and energy allocation and deficit patterns were compared between wild and laboratory-starved fish. Contrary to expectations, wild fish generally continued to accumulate protein mass and concurrently tended to reduce lipid mass from late autumn through winter. The most plausible explanation for the continuous structural growth is that juvenile pollock give priority to reducing mortality risk from size-selective predators under quasiprey-limited conditions. Exceptionally, inshore small fish reduced both constituents during a winter. The inshore fish consumed 2.5 times more lipid energy than protein energy in November-December, but protein was more important than lipids as a source of energy in December-January and in FebruaryMarch. However, dependence upon protein reserves was lower for the wild fish than for the laboratorystarved fish, suggesting milder nutritional stress of the wild fish than that observed in the starvation experiment. Moreover, the lipid contents of mortalities in the starvation experiment were mostly <1%, whereas few wild fish had such lipid contents in the field. These results suggest that juvenile pollock are able to avoid both starvation and predation by accumulating protein reserves.

Seasonal variation in body size and nutritional condition of juvenile walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma was examined to elucidate the mechanism underlying their first-winter survival on the continental shelf of the Doto area, northern Japan, based on monthly samples collected over 2 years. Stored lipid mass was highest during autumn, but 93% (2004) and 80% (2005) of lipids were exhausted by the onset of winter. Lipid levels in the winter of 2004 remained low (7-14% of the autumnal maximum), and there was reduced growth rate until the spring, whereas in 2005 lipid levels were higher and more variable (10-46% of the maximum) and some growth occurred. An analysis of the allometric relationships between body size and stored energy showed that larger individuals accumulated disproportionately more energy in the autumn, but the advantage disappeared prior to the winter. In January 2004, stored lipid energy was low throughout the Doto continental shelf relative to the continental slope area. These results suggest that winter feeding opportunities on the shelf are severely limited but not completely absent. Previous studies have shown that winter temperatures on the shelf are lower than those in the slope area. It is possible that juvenile T. chalcogramma survive winter on the shelf without a high level of pre-winter lipid storage because the occasional feeding in the cold shelf water benefits energy conservation.

The diet and feeding intensity of walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma were investigated in April and October 1993, and in April 1994. Specimens ranging from 262 to 456mm in standard l ength were sampled with a mid-water trawl off Hiyama Subprefecture and Aomori Prefecture in the northern Japan Sea. The main food items were large-sized zooplankton. In April, pollock fed chiefly on euphausiids (Thysanoessa longipes), chaetognaths, and hyperiid amphipods (Themisto japonica). In October, the main food organisms were hyperiid amphipods (T. japonica). Stomach-content weight indices indicated that the feeding intensity of pollock was stronger in April (after spawning) than in October (before spawning). The numerical compositions of food categories in April differed among sampling stations. Such differences were not observed in October. It seems likely that the dis tinct variation of diets in April is ascribed to geographic differences in zooplankton composition in the mesopelagic zone.

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