Juvenile scalloped hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna lewini, were collected in northwest Florida to examine foraging ecology, bioenergetics, and trophic level (30-60 cm FL mean FL 41.5 cm n 196). Diet analysis was performed using single and compound measures of prey quantity. Diet was also analyzed using seven broad diet categories (DC). Diet composition and estimated daily ration were compared to previously published information on bonnethead sharks, S. tiburo. Diet overlap was low between species. Juvenile S. lewini feed on relatively small (85 of prey items 5 shark length) teleosts (mostly bothids and sciaenids) and shrimps, whereas S. tiburo have been documented to feed mostly on crustaceans and plant material in northwest Florida. Plant material contributed little to the diet of S. lewini. Estimated daily ration was significantly lower for S. lewini (4.6 BW d-1) than for S. tiburo in northwest Florida, regardless if plant material was included in the model (p0.02 including and p0.00001 excluding plant material). Trophic level was calculated at 4.0 for S. lewini and 2.6 for S. tiburo. Stable isotope analysis showed S. lewini had significantly higher 15N values and significantly lower 13C values than S. tiburo, supporting the difference observed in calculated trophic level. These results provide evidence that small juvenile hammerhead species co-exist in coastal northwest Florida by feeding at separate trophic levels.

Stomach contents were tabulated for 734 swordfish (Xiphias gladius) from the central North Pacific from 1989 to 2000 (most from 1994-1998). The swordfish were captured by various commercial fishermen (with stomachs collected by the Pacific Islands Region Observer Program) or during PIFSC research cruises. Prey items from the stomachs were identified to the lowest taxonomic rank possible, enumerated, weighed, and measured, primarily by Bruce Mundy, Michael Seki, Happy Williams, Alan Everson, with assistance from Fisheries Observers from the Pacific Islands Regional Office. Associated data on fish length, weight, collection year, month, and location were obtained from observer, fishermen, or cruise data records, or from whole fish brought to the laboratory.

Reproductive data from Atlantic sharpnose sharks were collected from specimens captured throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico on various research vessels. Data included those necessary to describe the size at maturity, reproductive cycle, mating period, gestation time and fecundity of the species.

This Archival Information Package (AIP) contains basic biological information on bonnethead and scalloped hammerhead sharks with specific (by stomach and prey item) diet information for these two species. Data were collected by the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center; Panama City, FL Laboratory in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida from 1998 to 2005. Data are in comma separated value (CSV) format and include length, sex, and number of prey items.

Life history data were collected from Atlantic sharpnose and blacknose sharks during the Congressional Supplemental Program during 2011. Data collected include length, sex, state of maturity and fecundity. Additionally, reproductive tracts were removed and measures of anatomical structures were obtained.

Standard external morphometrics and internal oral cavity morphometrics data were collected on wild and captive reared loggerhead sea turtles in size classes ranging from 25-95 cm straight carapace length. These data will be used to investigate the behavioral and physiological characteristics of incidental capture interactions in longline fisheries.

The Marine Mammal Laboratory (MML) Food Habits Reference Collection, containing over 1000 specimens of cephalopod beaks and fish bones and otoliths, is used to identify undigested prey remains found in scats or stomachs of stranded or incidentally taken pinnipeds and cetaceans. Marine mammal food habits data are used in conjunction with satellite telemetry and dive records to better understand foraging behavior and prey selection. This information is critical to understanding how commercial fisheries and changing environmental conditions impact these animals. The Food Habits Collection includes fish and cephalopod species that are commonly consumed by pinnipeds along the Pacific Northwest coast and in Alaska, but we are in the process of adding other potential prey species and specimens to fill unrepresented size ranges. We are very appreciative of NMFS/AFSC/RACE fisheries biologists, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the University of Washington for their ongoing donations to our collection. With the help and cooperation of researchers such as these, our collection continues to grow in size and usefulness. The Marine Mammal Food Habits Reference Collection is an important research tool within NMML, and is also used several times a year by graduate students and researchers from universities, government agencies and private institutions. These collections have contributed to food habits research on Magister armhook squid, Northern fulmar, Newells shearwater, Hawaiian petrel, river otters and marine mammals. The collections are also used by archeologists to identify fish and mammal bones found in Native American middens from Alaska to Mexico. The database is comprised of a table detailing specimens and associated data and measurements for fish and cephalopod soft tissue and hard parts contained within the reference collection.

This dataset provides marine bacteriological water quality data for bivalve shellfish harvest areas in Nova Scotia, Canada. Shellfish harvest area water temperature and salinity data are also provided as adjuncts to the interpretation of fecal coliform density data. The latter is the indicator of fecal matter contamination monitored annually by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) within the framework of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP). The geospatial positions of the sampling sites are also provided. These data are collected by ECCC for the purpose of making recommendations on the classification of shellfish harvest area waters. ECCC recommendations are reviewed and adopted by Regional Interdepartmental Shellfish Committees prior to regulatory implementation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Little information has been produced since the mid 1970s about the roundscale spearfish Tetrapturus georgii (Lowe, 1840). The most complete species description was based on examination of four individuals from the eastern Atlantic. On the basis of detailed laboratory examination of 16 specimens, as well as fishery observer information and biological samples from an additional 49 individual specimens, we update morphological descriptions and key identification characteristics of this species for the western North Atlantic. Key characters include lateral scale morphology and position of the anal opening the scales having rounded and broad anterior bases with usually multiple posterior points, and the anal opening located a distance between 0.48 and 0.81 the height of the first anal fin.