Spatial and temporal variation in krill consumption by the Antarctic fish Notothenia coriiceps, in Admiralty Bay, King George Island

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: FANTA, EDITH, RIOS, FLAVIA SANT'ANNA, DONATTI, LUCÉLIA, CARDOSO, WAGNER ELIAS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2003
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Science; Euphausia superba; King George Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102003001561; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102003001561

An index of integrated food preferences ( IFA ) of Notothenia coriiceps Richardson at two sites in Admiralty Bay (Ipanema and Smok Point), calculated for two sequential summers, showed that during 1998/99, the most important food item was Euphausia superba (krill) at both Ipanema ( IFA = 0.83) and Smok Point ( IFA = 0.75), while the sum of all other food items was significantly smaller ( IFA respectively 0.21 and 0.26). Macroalgae, gammarid amphipods and gastropods dominated the diet in the summer 1999/00 ( IFA respectively 0.32, 0.32 and 0.21), at Ipanema, while macroalgae were dominant at Smok ( IFA = 0.67), where krill and amphipods were secondary prey ( IFA respectively 0.12 and 0.14) and gastropods were absent. Thus, the diet composition of N. coriiceps can possibly be used as an indicator of the presence of pelagic krill swarms.