Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans
Leopard seals ( Hydrurga leptonyx ) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 2024-09-15T18:11:17+00:00 Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans van der Linde, Krista Visser, Ingrid N. Bout, Rick Lalas, Chris Shepherd, Lara Hocking, David Finucci, Brittany Fyfe, Jim Pinkerton, Matthew 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 journal-article 2021 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 2024-08-06T04:06:19Z Leopard seals ( Hydrurga leptonyx ) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans. As part of a wider study on the diet of leopard seals in New Zealand (NZ) waters, researchers and citizen scientists recorded 39 observations of predation and collected 127 scats (166 total records) between 1942 and 2019. Predation on chondrichthyans was detected in 23.1% ( n = 9) of observations of predation and 7.1% ( n = 9) of scats (the latter via morphological examination and DNA sequencing). From both observations of predations and scats, three chondrichthyan species or genus were identified; elephantfish ( Callorhinchus milii ), ghost sharks ( Hydrolagus spp.) and spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias ). While this is the first published record of leopard seals feeding on chondrichthyans, the relatively high frequency of occurrence within our NZ records, and that certain individuals appeared to target this type of prey, indicates that these species could constitute a substantial, or important, part of the diet for some leopard seals in this region. As chondrichthyans form an important part of the NZ marine ecosystems, our recognition of an additional top-order predator of these species contributes to understanding the overall health of, and future impacts of predators on, the wider NZ marine ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
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Leopard seals ( Hydrurga leptonyx ) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans. As part of a wider study on the diet of leopard seals in New Zealand (NZ) waters, researchers and citizen scientists recorded 39 observations of predation and collected 127 scats (166 total records) between 1942 and 2019. Predation on chondrichthyans was detected in 23.1% ( n = 9) of observations of predation and 7.1% ( n = 9) of scats (the latter via morphological examination and DNA sequencing). From both observations of predations and scats, three chondrichthyan species or genus were identified; elephantfish ( Callorhinchus milii ), ghost sharks ( Hydrolagus spp.) and spiny dogfish ( Squalus acanthias ). While this is the first published record of leopard seals feeding on chondrichthyans, the relatively high frequency of occurrence within our NZ records, and that certain individuals appeared to target this type of prey, indicates that these species could constitute a substantial, or important, part of the diet for some leopard seals in this region. As chondrichthyans form an important part of the NZ marine ecosystems, our recognition of an additional top-order predator of these species contributes to understanding the overall health of, and future impacts of predators on, the wider NZ marine ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
van der Linde, Krista Visser, Ingrid N. Bout, Rick Lalas, Chris Shepherd, Lara Hocking, David Finucci, Brittany Fyfe, Jim Pinkerton, Matthew |
spellingShingle |
van der Linde, Krista Visser, Ingrid N. Bout, Rick Lalas, Chris Shepherd, Lara Hocking, David Finucci, Brittany Fyfe, Jim Pinkerton, Matthew Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
author_facet |
van der Linde, Krista Visser, Ingrid N. Bout, Rick Lalas, Chris Shepherd, Lara Hocking, David Finucci, Brittany Fyfe, Jim Pinkerton, Matthew |
author_sort |
van der Linde, Krista |
title |
Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
title_short |
Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
title_full |
Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
title_fullStr |
Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans |
title_sort |
leopard seals (hydrurga leptonyx) in new zealand waters predating on chondrichthyans |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358/full |
genre |
Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias |
genre_facet |
Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1810448871392804864 |