Prey-predator interactions of walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma and water temperature.

The influence of water temperatures on prey-predator interaction of walleye pollock was ex-amined in the eastern Bering Sea during summers from 1979 to 1984. Walleye pollock was parti-tioned into 18 categories by sex and body lengths. The common occurrence of Greenland turbot, arrowtooth flounder, Pacific halibut, flathead sole, large Pacific cod, thorny sculpin, spinyhead sculpin, and pollock (female<56cm) which are major predators of walleye pollock with several size classes of walleye pollock was found to have a significant relationship to bottom water temperature. This study has suggested that bottom water temperature promotes species overlap which ac- celerates and changes predation and competition between predator and prey populations of walleye pollock.