Use of blubber fatty acid profiles to detect inter-annual variations in the diet of grey seals Halichoerus grypus

Walton, Michael; Pomeroy, Patrick P.

doi:10.3354/meps248257

Cited by 31 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…top predators from different regions may have different FA signatures and still have similar diets if the prey themselves have different diets). Despite these restrictive prerequisites, our study and others have detected interpopulation and seasonal variation in FA profiles of marine predators such as seals (Iverson et al 1997b;Walton et al 2000;Walton & Pomeroy 2003). However, when a predator is known to eat a wide range of prey species within a comparatively limited foraging range, the ability to use FA signatures to detect such variation is limited (Dahl et al 2000;Hooker et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Integrated chromatograms were normalized by expressing the FA components as percentages of the total FA. FA components that occurred at less than 0.5% were not included in the statistical analyses, as the precision of their determination is low (Walton & Pomeroy 2003). Total saturated FA (SFA), monounsaturated FA (MUFA), short-chain MUFA (SC-MUFA), long-chain MUFA (LC-MUFA) and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) were also calculated (Best et al 2003).…”

Section: (A) Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids

Bradshaw

Hindell

Best

et al. 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

152

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Understanding the trophodynamics of marine ecosystems requires data on the temporal and spatial variation in predator diet but, particularly for wide-ranging species, these data are often unavailable. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) consumes large quantities of fish and squid prey in the Southern Ocean relative to other marine mammals; however, how diet varies relative to seasonal and spatial foraging behaviour is unknown. We used fatty acid (FA) signature analysis of 63 blubber cores from adult female M. leonina over three seasons (winter 1999, summer 2000 and winter 2001) to determine diet structure. We detected significant differences between seasons and between the main foraging regions (Antarctic continental shelf versus pelagic). We used the FA profiles from 53 fish, squid and krill species to construct a discriminant function that would classify each seal, from its blubber sample as having a fish-or squid-FA profile. We determined that a higher proportion of M. leonina had fish-dominated diets during the winter and when foraging around the Antarctic continental shelf, and the majority had more squiddominated diets during the summer when foraging pelagically. Thus, we were able to measure the coarsescale diet structure of a major marine predator using FA profiles, and estimate its associated seasonal and temporal variation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: (A) Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids

Bradshaw

Hindell

Best

et al. 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

152

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“…The large amount of lipids in the blubber of marine mammals (up to 50% of the body weight of some species at certain life stages; Iverson 2002) has been the subject of many investigations. These investigations have concentrated on the FA, the 'building-blocks' of the lipids, and have attempted to provide insight into ecological (Walton & Pomeroy 2003, taxonomical (Fredheim et al 1995, Smith et al 1996, Durnford & Shahidi 2002) and medicinal (Bang & Dyerberg 1976, Shahidi et al 1996 aspects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatty acid composition of blubber of the Baikal seal Phoca sibirica and its marine relative, the ringed seal P. hispida

Grahl‐Nielsen

Halvorsen²,

Bodoev³

et al. 2005

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The fatty acid (FA) composition was determined in the blubber of 5 adult Baikal seals Phoca sibirica caught in July 2001, nine 1-mo old pups caught in April 2002, and 25 adults and fetuses from 3 of these, caught in October 2002, all along the SE shores of Lake Baikal, eastern Siberia. For comparison, FA in the blubber of ringed seals P. hispida, the closest marine relative of the Baikal seal, caught along the ice edge around Svalbard during 1999 and 2000 were also analyzed. The FA of the main prey of the Baikal and ringed seals, the endemic golomyanka Comephorus baikalensis and polar cod Boreogadus saida, respectively, were also studied. The same suite of FA was found in all samples. Saturated FA (SFA) with branched chains, all n6 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and 18:3n3 and 20:3n3 were more abundant in the blubber of the Lake Baikal seal and in the golomyanka than in the blubber of the marine ringed seal and marine fishes. In contrast, the relative levels of monounsaturated FAs (MUFA) with 20 and 22 carbons and polyunsaturated 20:5n3 were lower in the Baikal species than in the Svalbard species. The FA composition of the inner blubber was significantly different from the FA composition of the outer blubber in both species. Despite large differences in FA composition between Baikal and ringed seal blubbers, vertical differences were manifested in the same FA: MUFA with 14, 16 and 18 carbons were present in higher relative abundance in the outer than in the inner layer. In both species all the other quantitatively important FA had lower or equal relative values in the outer layer. The FA composition of the seals' blubber differed from that of their main prey. The difference was, however, smaller between prey and inner blubber than between prey and outer blubber. The FA composition of the inner blubber of adults showed temporal differences. Since the change from prey to blubber in relative concentration occurred in the same direction for all but 5 FA, the selection of FA during deposition in the inner blubber was similar for the 2 species, even though there was a large difference between the general FA composition of the freshwater and marine lipids. The FA composition in the blubber of adults, pups and fetuses differed.

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“…The FA composition of the three prey species that were abundant in the stomach and stand for each distribution zone and class (Clupea pallasii for pelagic fishes, Todarodes pacificus for cephalopods and Arctoscopus japonicus for mesopelagic fishes) was obtained from the reference of the NFRDI (Unpublished data, NFRDI). FAs that occurred at less than 1% were not included in the statistical analysis, because their determination was uncertain (Walton & Pomeroy 2003). The selected FAs were arcsin transformed prior to analysis for the requirements of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).…”

Section: Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet of long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) in the East Sea, Korea

Ahn

Kim

et al. 2014

Animal Cells and Systems

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The long-beaked common dolphin is one of the most abundant cetaceans in Korean waters, and their population has been estimated to comprise of more than 35,000 individuals. Delphinus capensis generally appear close to the coast and primarily feed on epipelagic small fishes and cephalopods. Thirty long-beaked common dolphins were collected from the East Sea from February to September in 2012. For stomach content analysis (SCA), the fresh prey items were identified to their lowest taxonomic level, and unidentified preys due to digestion were identified using remnants such as fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks. Fatty acid (FA) patterns of 20 dolphins from the inner layer of blubber were compared with those in samples of prey items. Enoploteuthis chunii was the dominant prey in SCA, representing 55.8% by number and 75.9% by occurrence. Common squid (Todarodes pacificus) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were the next major preys at more than 80% occurrence. Even though a distinctive difference was not observed between genders, there was a significant diet variation related to maturity. Immature dolphins consumed a higher diversity of prey, and consumed more equally than the sexually mature group, who showed a high dominance of cephalopods. Furthermore, this result fairly corresponded to FAs composition of mature dolphins with the raised percent of 20:6n-3, which is relatively abundant in T. pacificus.

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Use of blubber fatty acid profiles to detect inter-annual variations in the diet of grey seals Halichoerus grypus

Cited by 31 publications

References 39 publications

You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids

You are what you eat: describing the foraging ecology of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) using blubber fatty acids

Fatty acid composition of blubber of the Baikal seal Phoca sibirica and its marine relative, the ringed seal P. hispida

Diet of long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) in the East Sea, Korea

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