Cephalopod fauna of subantarctic islands: new information from predators

• Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Main Authors: Cherel, Yves, Duhamel, Guy, Gasco, Nicolas
• Other Authors: Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Département Milieux et Peuplements Aquatiques, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2004
• Subjects: Crozet; Kerguelen; Octopus; Patagonian toothfish; Slope; Southern Ocean; Squid; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; Kerguelen Islands; Indian; Antarc*; antarcticus; Patagonian Toothfish
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00186837; https://doi.org/10.3354/meps266143

14 pages International audience Using top predators as biological samplers, we collected information on the poorly known—but ecologically important—cephalopod fauna of the Southern Ocean. A total of 4527 cephalopod beaks were identified from stomach contents of Patagonian toothfish caught in slope waters at Crozet and Kerguelen Islands (Indian Ocean). Main prey were the squid Gonatus antarcticus and Kondakovia longimana at both localities, Taonius sp. B (Voss) and Slosarczykovia circumantarctica at Crozet, and Chiroteuthis veranyi and Mastigoteuthis psychrophila at Kerguelen. Fish diet together with the feeding habits of sharks and seabirds show that at least 36 and 38 different cephalopod species inhabit Crozet and Kerguelen waters, respectively. Oegopsid squid dominate the assemblages (29 and 32 taxa at Crozet and Kerguelen, respectively) over octopods (7 and 5 taxa), 1 species of sepiolid occurring at Kerguelen. These rich communities include pelagic squid, benthopelagic cirrate octopods and a few endemic benthic octopodids. The results emphasize the importance of onychoteuthids and gonatids in the nutrition of top consumers in the Southern Ocean and they shed new light on the role of chiroteuthids, mastigoteuthids and cirrate octopods in the trophic web of the marine ecosystems.