The food habits of Nibea albiflora, which is one of the most important fishing resources in Bisan-seto of the Seto Inland Sea, were studied through the qualitative and quantitative analysis of their stomach contents. Stomachs of 323 fish collected in the central regions of the Sea during the period from March '77 to June '79 were examined, although 120 of them were found to be empty. The stomachs of the remaining 203 fish with a standard length ranging from 49 mm to 435 mm were analyzed individually. The prey items were identified, counted and weighed damp with the total length of the prey (fishes and shrimps: Crangon affinis) being measured. This study is one of a series of studies on the fishery biology of N. albiflora in the Seto Inland Sea. General conclusions obtained in this study are as follows:
1) The prey items found in the stomachs were fishes, crustaceans (shrimps, hermit crabs, crabs, mantis shrimps, euphausiids, amphipods, cumaceans, mysids, copepods), gastropods, cephalopods (squid), polychaetes, echiurids (Urechis unicinctus) and algae.
2) The most predominant prey items in the stomachs in terms of occurrence were shrimps (52%), fishes (51%) and mysids (23%). In terms of numbers, the most numerous item was shrimps (58%), with mysids (20%) and fishes (17%) being less important. In gravimetric terms, the major prey items were fishes (46%) and shrimps (33%), and U. unicilzctus constituted 12%.0 The main species of shrimp consumed were Acefes japonicus, Aljlzous Brevicristatus, Alpheus japonicus, Latreutes planirostris, Crangon affinis, and a species of penaeid shrimp, but Lucifer reynaudi and Athanas lamellifer were less dominant. The most important species of fish consumed was the sand eel (Amnzodytes personatus).
3) The number of prey items in the stomachs decreased gradually with growth of N. albiflora, with the frequency of occurrence and weight of each prey item also changing with the size of the predator. The 203 sample fish were divided into four standard length groups: less than 80 mm, 80-139 mm, 140-199 mm, and greater than 200 mm. The major foods were mysids, small shrimps (mainly alpheid shrimps, L. planirostris, C. affinis, a penaeid shrimp) and small fishes in the < 80 mm size group, fishes and shrimps (mainly Ac. juponicus, alpheid shrimps, C. afjinis) in the 80-139 mm size group, and fishes and shrimps (mainly Ac. japonics, alpheid shrimps) in the 140-199 mm size group. Fishes were the most important prey item in the > 200 mm size group, and sand ell was dominant in the stomachs of N. albiflora greater than 260 mm length.
4) The prey size of fishes and shrimp (C. affinis) appeared to increase with incresing predator size. Size preference was more clear in fish prey than shrimp. The total length of fish prey in the stomachs was 1/5-1/3 of the standard length of the predator.