Cephalopod diet of the southern elephant seal, <i>Mirounga leonina</i>, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands

Daneri, Gustavo Adolfo; Carlini, Alejandro R; Rodhouse, P. G.

doi:10.1017/s0954102000000031

Cited by 84 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…lanternfish) (Cherel et al 2008). Indeed, mycto phid (the abundant Electrona antarctica, E. carls bergi and Gymnoscopelus nicholsi) otoliths have been found in stomachs of SES from the Kerguelen sector (Slip 1995) and elsewhere (Daneri & Carlini 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern elephant seal foraging success in relation to temperature and light conditions: insight into prey distribution

Guinet¹,

Vacquié‐Garcia²,

Picard³

et al. 2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

103

131

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The distribution of southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina prey encounter events (PEEs) was investigated from the foraging behaviour of 29 post-breeding females simultaneously equipped with a satellite tag, a time−depth recorder and a head-mounted accelerometer. Seal diving depth and PEE were related to water temperature at 200 m (T 200 ), and light level at the surface (L 0 ) and at depth. Approximately half (49%) of all dives were located in waters encompassed between the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and the Polar Front. Seals dived significantly deeper during the day than at night. Diving and PEE depth increased with increasing T 200 and for a given T 200 according to L 0 and the percentage of surface light reaching 150 m. On average, 540 PEEs per day were recorded. Seals exhibited more PEEs per unit of time spent diving during the twilight period compared with at night, and were least successful during daylight hours. Elephant seals forage in T 200 ranging between −1 and 13°C; however, few PEEs were recorded at depths shallower than 400−500 m at night when the T 200 exceeded 8°C. The diet of female Kerguelen elephant seals appears to be dominated by myctophids (lanternfish), and according to the average mass of their most likely myctophid prey (9 g, Electrona calsbergi and E. antarctica; 30 g Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and G. piabilis), we estimate that seals consumed 4.8−16.1 kg of fish daily. Despite lower catch rates in warmer waters, no relationship was found between the mean T 200 at the scale of the foraging trip and daily or absolute mass gain, suggesting that elephant seals are compensating for lower catch rates by consuming larger/richer prey items in those waters.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern elephant seal foraging success in relation to temperature and light conditions: insight into prey distribution

Guinet¹,

Vacquié‐Garcia²,

Picard³

et al. 2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

103

131

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“…25 de Mayo population of M. leonina, studies have reported that juveniles (in their first year of life), females and adult males develop their foraging activity in different areas of the Southern Ocean (Bornemann et al, 2000;toSh et al, 2009). Additionally, dietary studies conducted to date on this population, have shown that its diet differs from those of other colonies since it is mainly represented by fish and squid species distributed almost entirely south of the Antarctic Polar Front (daneri et al, 2000daneri & carlini, 2002;PiatkowSki et al, 2002). Nevertheless, it should be noted that dietary information of the juvenile component of M. leonina in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean is relatively scarce.…”

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confidence: 97%

“…Cephalopods (squid and octopus) constitute a common prey in the diet of the southern elephant seal (clarke et al, 1982;rodhouSe et al, 1992;daneri et al, 2000), although fish have also been reported as a relatively important food item, at least seasonally (daneri & carlini, 2002;newland et al, 2009). The southern elephant seal has a key role as a top predator in the food webs of the southern marine ecosystem.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In the Scotia Sea it has been reported that this phocid species accounts for 75 % of the 3.7 x 10 6 tonnes of cephalopods and 45% of the 2 x 10 6 tons of fish predated by birds and seals in the area (croxall et al, 1985). In addition, further studies have shown that the contribution of different prey species to its diet may vary with locations, seasons and between sex/ age type (rodhouSe et al, 1992;green & Burton, 1993;SliP, 1995;daneri et al, 2000;PiatkowSki et al, 2002;BradShaw et al, 2003;van den hoff et al, 2003;field et al, 2005;among others).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Cephalopoda as prey of juvenile Southern elephant seals at Isla 25 de Mayo/King George, South Shetland Islands

Burdman

Daneri

Negrete³

et al. 2015

Iheringia, Sér. Zool.

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ABSTRACT. The aim of the present study was to enhance the knowledge of the feeding habits of the juvenile component of the population of Southern elephant seals [Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)] from Isla 25 de Mayo, South Shetland Islands, age class whose diet information is scarce. A total of 60 individuals were stomach lavaged in the spring -summer seasons of three consecutive years (2003, 2004 and 2005) of which 53.3 % (n = 32) presented food remnants. The Antarctic glacial squid Psychroteuthis glacialis Thiele, 1921 was the dominant prey taxon in terms of frequency of occurrence (68.7%), numerical abundance (60.1%) and biomass (51.5%), contributing 84.1% to the total relative importance index. Other squid prey species of importance were Slosarczykovia circumantartica Lipinski, 2001 in terms of occurrence (37.5%) and numerical abundance (14%) and Moroteuthis knipovitchi Filippova, 1972 in terms of biomass (16%). All identified cephalopod prey taxa are distributed south of the Antarctic Polar Front, except for the squid Martialia hyadesi Rochebrune & Mabille, 1889 which has a circumpolar distribution associated to the Polar Frontal Zone. No significant differences in the sizes of P. glacialis preyed upon by elephant seals were found between sexes and years. However, significant interannual differences were found in the taxonomical composition of their diet. This would be associated with temporal changes in food availability at the foraging areas of seals, which in turn may have been influenced by changes in oceanographic conditions as a result of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon that occurred during part of the study period. Furthermore, a differential response of males and females to this temporal variation was observed, with the former being also associated to a predation on octopods. This would suggest a sexual segregation in foraging habits of this species from the early stages of its life cycle. KEYWORDS. Mirounga, diet, Antarctica.RESUMEN. Cephalopoda como presa de juveniles de elefantes marinos del sur en la Isla 25 de Mayo/King George, Islas Shetland del Sur. El objetivo del presente estudio fue el de incrementar el conocimiento de los hábitos alimentarios del componente juvenil de la población de elefantes marinos del sur [Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758)] de Isla 25 de Mayo, Islas Shetland del Sur, clase de edad cuya dieta es poco conocida . Un total de 60 ejemplares fueron sometidos a técnicas de lavaje estomacal durante primavera -verano de tres años consecutivos (2003, 2004 y 2005) de los cuales el 53,3 % (n = 32) presentaba restos alimentarios. El calamar antártico Psychroteuthis glacialis Thiele, 1921 fue el taxón presa dominante en términos de frecuencia de ocurrencia (68,7%), abundancia numérica (60,1%) y biomasa (51,5%), contribuyendo en un 84,1% al índice de importancia relativa total. Otros calamares presa de importancia fueron Slosarczykovia circumantartica Lipinski, 2001, en términos de ocurrencia (37,5%) y de abundancia numérica (14%), y Moroteuthis knipovitchi F...

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“…For example, Clarke (2007) suggested that sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) use seamounts as convenient 'restaurants' as they cross the abyssal plains. Elephant seals often include a large proportion of cephalopods in their diets (e.g., Clarke and MacLeod, 1982;Daneri et al, 2004;Green and Burton, 1993;Rodhouse et al, 1992;van den Hoff, 2004) and two male elephant seals from Marion Island made heavy use of the Funk and unnamed seamount in 2008 (Bester et al, 2009a, b), emphasizing the likely aggregation of cephalopods or fishes at these sites.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement and diving of killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) at a Southern Ocean archipelago

Reisinger

Keith

Andrews

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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Eleven satellite tags were deployed on 9 killer whales at the Prince Edwards Islands in the Southern Ocean. State-space switching models were used to generate position estimates from Argos location data, while two behavioural modes were estimated from the data. Individuals were tracked for 5.6-53.2 days, during which time they moved 416-4,470 km (mean 82.7 km day -1 ) but 69% of position estimates were within the 1000 m depth contour around the islands (<35 km from the tagging site). Killer whales showed restricted behaviour close to the islands, particularly inshore where they can effectively hunt seals and penguins, and at seamounts to the north of the islands.Generalized linear mixed effect models were used to explore the relationship between environmental variables and behavioural mode. The best model included depth, sea surface temperature, latitude, sea surface height anomaly and bottom slope, but killer whales did not clearly target features such as fronts and apparent mesoscale eddies. Killer whales showed restricted behaviour in shallow water, at high latitudes and low sea surface temperature -the conditions characterising the archipelago.Dive data from two individuals largely revealed shallow dives (7.5-50 m deep), but deeper dive bouts to around 368 m were also recorded. Dives were significantly deeper during the day and maximum dive depths were 767.5 and 499.5 m, respectively. This suggests that killer whales might also prey on vertically migrating cephalopods and perhaps Patagonian toothfish.Three individuals made rapid and directed long-distance movements northwards of the islands, the reasons for which are speculative.

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Cephalopod diet of the southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands

Cited by 84 publications

References 11 publications

Southern elephant seal foraging success in relation to temperature and light conditions: insight into prey distribution

Southern elephant seal foraging success in relation to temperature and light conditions: insight into prey distribution

Cephalopoda as prey of juvenile Southern elephant seals at Isla 25 de Mayo/King George, South Shetland Islands

Movement and diving of killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) at a Southern Ocean archipelago

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