Digital Images, a Stomach Examiner's Tool (SET) on Line

Food habit studies reveal the trophic relationships that influence the distribution and abundance of animal populations. The Food Habits Laboratory of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) Resource Ecology Ecosystem Modeling Program (REEM) has been collecting food habits data of commercially and non-commercially important fish species since the early 1980s in order to understand the ways in which predator-prey relationships influence the population dynamics of managed fish species. The sampling area covers the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands.

     The stomach contents analysis is a tedious, time-consuming process. After 30 years of stomach contents processing, we accumulated lots of taxonomical information that is useful for the stomach contents analysis. Since the digital camera available, we recorded the taxonomical information of the whole specimens, partially digested specimens, gill arches, vertebrae, postcleithrum, otoliths, telson of crustaceans, subopercle and preopercle of fish, and setae of polychaetes, etc.  With this information on line, stomach examiners can access the taxonomical information fast and easily.  The objective of this web site is to provide the comprehensive information as a guide for the stomach content examiners to identify the items in the fish stomachs. Up to date, we have 552 pictures in the web.