FOOD ITEMS. OTHER THAN LAND PLANTS

t

The values of radionuclides observed in food items other than land plants

are presented in Table 2.

categories:

The fish collected and analyzed are in two main

the reef fish and the pelagic, or "troll-caught" fish.

The

reef fishes are usually collected by throw nets by the Marshallese and are
important items in their diet.

Of the more than 700 species of reef fishes at Bikini Atoll, we selected

three species commonly eaten by the Marshallese and representative of three

feeding habits:

the mullet, a plankton feeder; the convict.surgeonfish, a

grazing herbivore; and the gostfish, a bottom-feeding carnivore.

The specific

radionuclides found in fish and their concentrations are often associated
with feeding habit, hence this was a necessary consideration in selecting

samples representative of the kinds of fish which would be eaten when the

Bikinians return.

A fourth kind of reef’fish, groupers, was also collected as
n

representative of the higher order caytvores.

The troll-caught fishes are all high-order carnivores and fall into two

broad subcatesories:

resiacent issos:. Tish, ulua and dogtooth tuna; 4
were caught in or near Enf Pass.
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migratory fish, yellowfin tuna.

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