Beetles in the diet of six species of deep-sea fish

Four scarab beetles (Acrossidius tasmaniae) and two unidentified weevils were recovered from the guts of a single individual of six deep-sea fishes trawled from depths of 326-418 m, c. 30-40 km off the Wairarapa coast, North Island, New Zealand. These constitute the first records of terrestrial arthropods in the diet of deep-sea fishes from the New Zealand region. Possible reasons describing how these terrestrial beetles came to be eaten by these fishes are discussed.