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Fish prey of the Wandering AlbatrossDiomedea exulansat South Georgia

โœ Scribed by J. P. Croxall; A. W. North; P. A. Prince


Publisher
Springer
Year
1988
Tongue
English
Weight
777 KB
Volume
9
Category
Article
ISSN
0722-4060

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โœฆ Synopsis


The fish diet (45% of total diet by weight) of Wandering Albatrosses rearing chicks at South Georgia during the austral winters of 1983 and 1984 was investigated using otoliths retrieved from regurgitations. These provide the first quantitative data for this species and for any albatross. By number of identified otoliths (32% could be identified only as ?Macrouridae and ?Moridae), Pseudochaenichthys georgianus (35%), Muraenolepis microps (33O/o) and Chaenocephalus aceratus (20%) predominated, with Notothenia gibberifrons, Pagothenia hansoni and Champsocephalus gunnari (together 12ยฐ70) also present. Composition by weight (estimated from otolith length) of the main species was Pseudochaenichthys 51%, Muraenolepis 14%, Chaenocephalus 27%; if digestion and wear had reduced otoliths by 1007o the values would be Pseudochaenichthys 54%, Chaenocephalus 25ยฐ70, Muraenolepis 13%. Composition by weight (actual or corrected values) was almost identical between years but epipelagic fish were significantly more abundant in 1983 than 1984. All identified fish eaten by Wandering Albatrosses are common on the South Georgia continental shelf and most of them are caught in the commercial fishery there. However, two of the three main target species of this fishery in 1983-1984, Notothenia rossii and Champsocephalus were not, or rarely, caught by Wandering Albatrosses. It seems unlikely, therefore, that the albatrosses depend greatly on the fishery for acquisition of fish prey but how they catch several species, including Muraenolepis, which are mainly benthic in habit is unknown.


๐Ÿ“œ SIMILAR VOLUMES


Cephalopod prey of the wandering albatro
โœ P. G. Rodhouse; M. R. Clarke; A. W. A. Murray ๐Ÿ“‚ Article ๐Ÿ“… 1987 ๐Ÿ› Springer-Verlag ๐ŸŒ English โš– 824 KB

Cephalopod beaks from the stomach contents of "wandering albatross" (Diomedea exulans L.) chicks from Bird Island, South Georgia, were sampled between May and September in 1983 and 1984. Lower beaks were identified and measured, and allometric data were used to calculate mantle length and biomass of