| Remarks |
Occurs from water's edge to 430 m depth; absent from shoal waters in south during warm months. Lives on all kinds of bottom (Ref. 27314). It tolerates a wide temperature range (1.2-20°C). Voracious predator(Ref. 5951); feeds on bivalve mollusks, squids, rock crabs, lobsters, shrimps, worms and fishes (Ref. 27314). Food also includes fishes like spiny dogfish, alewife, Atlantic herring, butterfish, sand lance, cunner, hakes and flatfishes. Parasites of the species include 1 turbellarian, 3 trematodes, 4 cestodes, 2 nematodes and 4 copepods, found on gills, skin and digestive tract; infestation is relatively severe (Ref. 5951). |