Bester, M. N. and Laycock, P. A. (1985) Cephalopod Prey of the Sub-Antarctic Fur Seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, at Gough Island. In: Antarctic Nutrient Cycles and Food Webs. , ed. by Siegfried, W. R., Condy, P. R. and Laws, R. M.. Springer, Berlin, Germany, pp. 551-554. ISBN 978-3-642-82277-3

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Abstract

The Sub-Antarctic Fur Seal, Arctocephalus tropicalis, at Gough Island preys predominantly on cephalopods, but includes relatively small quantities of fish in its diet. Stomachs of Fur Seals (n = 220) culled on land were either empty (32%), contained only stones (8%) or contained almost exclusively prey remains resistant to digestion, such as cephalopod pens, ‘beaks’, eye balls, fish bones and otoliths. The pooled cephalopod lower beaks (n = 424) that could be identified (n = 337), showed that Ommastrephidae (52.5%), Histioteuthidae (25.2%), Onychoteuthidae (19.9%), Cranchiidae (2.1%) and Octopoteuthidae (0.3%) constituted the main prey items based on frequency of occurrence. Cephalopod mass estimates, from regression of lower rostral lengths against mass, approximated this relative arrangement of cephalopod families.

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