Well it goes without saying that bottom feeders are your best bet.  You
won't find any mollusks (except maybe squid) in midwater or surface feeders
like bluefish, striped bass, tuna, etc.,  which feed primarily on fish.  I
have had good luck with members of the cod family (cod, hake, haddock) and
the flounder family.  I found my first TWELVE specimens of Calliostoma
bairdi in the stomach of ONE 15-pound cod.  I have had some luck with
porgies (scup).  Fish such as these tend to swallow their food whole.  There
are other bottom feeders, like tautog and wrasses, which have strong jaws
and blunt teeth, and tend to crush their prey before swallowing it.  In
addition to such edible fish as those just mentioned, a number of
bottom-feeding "trash fish" like sculpins, sea robins and skates can harbor
shelled mollusks, but I don't like to kill them just for that purpose, so
when I catch them I usually release them.

Paul M.



> ----------
> From:         Geoff Macaulay
> Reply To:     Conchologists of America List
> Sent:         31, July 2002 2:48 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      shells in fish guts
>
> Dear List
> Any ideas on which types of fish are best to open up to look for deep
> water
> shells?
> Thanks
> Geoff
>
>
>
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