ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals
ABSTRACT. The diet of bearded seals, Erignathus barbatus, near St. Matthew Island, Bering Sea, was studied during the early spring of 1981. Eighty-six percent of the 78 seals ’ stomachs examined contained fish. Other prey taxon groups, in decreasing order of their percentages of occurrence, were cra...
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ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.502.2668 2023-05-15T14:19:37+02:00 ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals George A. Antonelis Sharon R. Melin Yurii A. Bukhtiyarov The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives 1993 application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.2668 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.2668 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf text 1993 ftciteseerx 2016-01-08T09:11:33Z ABSTRACT. The diet of bearded seals, Erignathus barbatus, near St. Matthew Island, Bering Sea, was studied during the early spring of 1981. Eighty-six percent of the 78 seals ’ stomachs examined contained fish. Other prey taxon groups, in decreasing order of their percentages of occurrence, were crabs (73%), clams (55%) , snails (47%), amphipods (32%), shrimp (Is%), mysids (13%), marine worms (13%) and cephalopods (4%). The most frequently occurring prey species were capelin, Mallotus villosus (82%); codfishes, Gadidae (64%); narrow snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio (63 %); eelpouts, Lycodes spp. (56%); longsnout prickleback, Lumpenella longirostris (49%); nutshell clams, Nuculana sp. (42%); and moon snails, Polinices sp. (27%). Seventy-seven percent of the seals examined had consumed prey from three or more different taxon groups. We identified seven food items not previously reported as prey of the bearded seal in the Bering Sea. No differences were detected between the diets of males and females and between adults and juveniles, indicating no apparent segregation of foraging by sex or age. Bearded seals in the St. Matthew Island region of the Bering Sea forage in a manner similar to their conspecifics in other areas where fish constitute a major portion of their diet. Prey selection is probably dependent on availability, and diet may be highly diversified even within a relatively small area during a short period of time. Variety in prey consumption exemplifies the ability of the bearded seal to forage in the seasonally changing habitat associated with the advance and retreat of the ice front. Key words: bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus, diet, demersal and pelagic fish, benthic invertebrates, prey species diversity RÉSUMÉ. On a ttudi4 le regime alimentaire du phoque barbu, Erignathus barbatus, pres de l’île Saint Matthew dans la mer de Bering Text Arctic Arctic bearded seal Bering Sea Chionoecetes opilio Erignathus barbatus Phoque barbu Snow crab St Matthew Island Unknown Arctic Barbu ENVELOPE(13.636,13.636,64.794,64.794) Bering Sea |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
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ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
description |
ABSTRACT. The diet of bearded seals, Erignathus barbatus, near St. Matthew Island, Bering Sea, was studied during the early spring of 1981. Eighty-six percent of the 78 seals ’ stomachs examined contained fish. Other prey taxon groups, in decreasing order of their percentages of occurrence, were crabs (73%), clams (55%) , snails (47%), amphipods (32%), shrimp (Is%), mysids (13%), marine worms (13%) and cephalopods (4%). The most frequently occurring prey species were capelin, Mallotus villosus (82%); codfishes, Gadidae (64%); narrow snow crab, Chionoecetes opilio (63 %); eelpouts, Lycodes spp. (56%); longsnout prickleback, Lumpenella longirostris (49%); nutshell clams, Nuculana sp. (42%); and moon snails, Polinices sp. (27%). Seventy-seven percent of the seals examined had consumed prey from three or more different taxon groups. We identified seven food items not previously reported as prey of the bearded seal in the Bering Sea. No differences were detected between the diets of males and females and between adults and juveniles, indicating no apparent segregation of foraging by sex or age. Bearded seals in the St. Matthew Island region of the Bering Sea forage in a manner similar to their conspecifics in other areas where fish constitute a major portion of their diet. Prey selection is probably dependent on availability, and diet may be highly diversified even within a relatively small area during a short period of time. Variety in prey consumption exemplifies the ability of the bearded seal to forage in the seasonally changing habitat associated with the advance and retreat of the ice front. Key words: bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus, diet, demersal and pelagic fish, benthic invertebrates, prey species diversity RÉSUMÉ. On a ttudi4 le regime alimentaire du phoque barbu, Erignathus barbatus, pres de l’île Saint Matthew dans la mer de Bering |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
George A. Antonelis Sharon R. Melin Yurii A. Bukhtiyarov |
spellingShingle |
George A. Antonelis Sharon R. Melin Yurii A. Bukhtiyarov ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
author_facet |
George A. Antonelis Sharon R. Melin Yurii A. Bukhtiyarov |
author_sort |
George A. Antonelis |
title |
ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
title_short |
ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
title_full |
ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
title_fullStr |
ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
title_full_unstemmed |
ARCTIC Early Spring Feeding Habits of Bearded Seals |
title_sort |
arctic early spring feeding habits of bearded seals |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.2668 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(13.636,13.636,64.794,64.794) |
geographic |
Arctic Barbu Bering Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barbu Bering Sea |
genre |
Arctic Arctic bearded seal Bering Sea Chionoecetes opilio Erignathus barbatus Phoque barbu Snow crab St Matthew Island |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic bearded seal Bering Sea Chionoecetes opilio Erignathus barbatus Phoque barbu Snow crab St Matthew Island |
op_source |
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.502.2668 http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/arctic47-1-74.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766291412818591744 |