Predation on cephalopods by Pygoscelis papua and Arctocephalus gazelle at south Orkney Islands.

Libertelli, Marcela M., Daneri, Gustavo A., Piatkowski, Uwe , Coria, Nestor R. and Carlini, Alejandro R. (2004) Predation on cephalopods by Pygoscelis papua and Arctocephalus gazelle at south Orkney Islands. Open Access Polish Polar Research, 25 (3-4). pp. 267-274.

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Abstract

The cephalopod diet of the gentoo penguin, Pygoscelis papua and the Ant− arctic fur seal, Arctocephalus gazella was comparatively analyzed at Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands. A total of 125 stomach samples were collected by the water off−loading method from gentoo penguins during the autumns of 1993, 1995 and 1996, and 39 fur seal scats were collected from mid March to April 1988. Cephalopods preyed upon by gentoo penguins were represented by 1974 beaks (1628 lower, 346 upper) which occurred in 50.4% of the samples. Lower beaks identified belonged exclusively to the squid Psychroteuthis glacialis. The mean lower rostral length (LRL) of these beaks was 1.1 mm (range 0.4– 1.8 mm). From the Antarctic fur seal scats 103 beaks (41 lower, 62 upper) were removed from 60.6% of scats which contained prey remains. The cephalopod species identified were Slosarczykovia circumantarctica and P. glacialis which constituted 78.8% and 21.1% in terms of numbers, respectively. The mean lower rostral length for S. circumantarctica was 2.7 mm (range 2.0–3.5 mm), while that of P. glacialis was 1.6 mm (range 1.0–2.5 mm). The foraging behaviour of the two top predators was analyzed and discussed according to the composition and size of their cephalopod prey.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Antarctica, South Orkney Islands, gentoo penguin, fur seal, cephalopods
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB3 Marine Ecology > FB3-EV Marine Evolutionary Ecology
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: Yes
Publisher: Polish Academy of Sciences
Date Deposited: 24 Mar 2009 23:25
Last Modified: 09 Nov 2016 12:46
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/4087

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