The diet of the Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans at Subantarctic Marion Island

Cooper, John; Henley, Stephen; Klages, N. T. W.

doi:10.1007/bf00238186

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The size of onychoteuthid beaks found in wandering albatross samples at Crozet agrees well with that of beaks collected at other localities (Cooper et al 1992, Imber 1992 and from stomachs of another adult onychoteuthid eater, the sperm whale (Clarke 1980). Our data indicate that the austral winter is a reproductive season for onychoteuthids in Crozet waters.…”

Section: Seabirds As Biological Samplers Of Squidssupporting

confidence: 77%

“…In localities south of the Sub-Antarctic Front, they mainly feed in winter on Kondakovia longimana, the histioteuthid Histioteuthis eltaninae, the cranchiid Galiteuthis glacialis, and other main prey including the ornrnastrephid Illex argentinus at South Georgia (Rodhouse et al 1987), Moroteuthis knipovitchi at Marion Island (Cooper et al 1992), and M. ingens at Crozet Islands (the present study). M. ingens is generally a minor to rare item in the diet of wandering albatrosses and has not previously been reported as an important prey for that species (Cooper et al 1992, Imber 1992. Ridoux 1994.…”

Section: General Commentsmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…At the Crozet Islands, M. ingens was, however, the main food item in 1992, but not in 1982 and 1994, during which K. longin~ana formed the bulk of the food. Together with dietary samples collected over several years at the closely related Marion Island (Cooper et al 1992, Imber 1992, these findings show that K. longirnana usually predominates in the winter diet of wandering albatrosses from the southern lndian Ocean; they also indicate that albatrosses are able to shift to other food sources in response to environmental changes. The fairly large number of M. ingens in the bird's diet in 1992 may eventually result in a year of unusually high abundance of that species in Crozet waters, as recently described for the Patagonian shelf in 1994 (Jackson et al 1998a).…”

Section: General Commentsmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Indeed, wandering albatrosses are surface feeders and do not dive , while king penguins prey on mesopelagic organisms in the 0 to 300 m depth range (Kooyman et al 1992, Piitz et al 1998. Moreover, the smallest squid eaten by wandering albatrosses have a ML 40 mm (Rodhouse et al 1987, Cooper et al 1992, thus excluding many small to very small individuals caught by king penguins (Adams & Klages 1987, present study).…”

Section: Comparison Between King Penguins and Wandering Albatrossesmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Unlike penguins, wandering albatrosses probably depend significantly on scavenged squid (Weimerskirch et al 1986, Cooper et al 1992, Croxall & Prince 1994, Cherel & Klages 1998, large specimens being bitten into pieces by one to several birds before being ingested. This way of feeding probably explains the relatively high number of unidentified cephalopods in the fresh fraction due to the lack of buccal masses in samples (Table 4 ) .…”

Section: Comparison Between King Penguins and Wandering Albatrossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spawning cycle of onychoteuthid squids in the southern Indian Ocean:new information from seabird predators

Cherel¹,

Weimerskirch²

1999

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Cephalopods play an important role in the trophic web of the Southern Ocean, but little information is available on their biology. The 2 largest sub-Antarctic seabirds, the king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus and the wandering albatross Diomedea exulans, feed primarily on squids during the austral winter at the Crozet Islands. We examined a large number of accumulated cephalopod beaks in the stomach of these birds together with some undigested items; first, to understand how these 2 predators share the squid resource during winter, a period of supposed low food availabhty, and, second, to use a diving and a flying seabird as biological samplers of Southern Ocean cephalopods. Individuals of the fanuly Onychoteuthidae formed the bulk of the squid diet, accounting for 72.6 and 57.0% of the number of lower beaks in samples from king pengulns and wandering albatrosses, respectively. Seven different species were identified, the 3 main squids being Kondakovia longimana (38.8 and 28.0% by number for penguins and albatrosses, respectively), Moroteuthis ingens (13.5 and 26.2%) and Ivf. knipovitchi (20.1 and 2.3 %). Both seabirds preyed upon the same cephalopod species, but penguins primarily took small-to medium-sized juveniles (99.0% of the onychoteuthids) and albatrosses preyed on larger adult specimens (96.0%). Fresh remains indicated that adult K. longimana and M. ingens were mature ~ndividuals which, as shown by satellite tracking of albatrosses, were taken over the slope and nearby oceanic waters surrounding the archipelago. The present study indicates that matinglspawning of K. longimana and M. ingens occurs in Crozet waters during the winter months. It also extends the biogeography of K. longimana to north of the Antarctic Polar Front, in the Polar Frontal Zone, where it has not previously been recorded.

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Section: Seabirds As Biological Samplers Of Squidssupporting

confidence: 77%