• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: I. Munilla; Area de Ecoloxı́a; Facultade de Bioloxı́a; Universidade de Santiago de; Lesser black-backed gull
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.603.3450; http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/54/4/631.full.pdf

results also suggest that yellow-legged gulls in Galicia are to a great extent marine foragers. Galicia has one of the largest yellow-legged gull populations in western Europe, largely dominating the seabird community. Polybius henslowii is the most abundant decapod crab over the continental shelf of Galicia. It enters coastal waters in large shoals and frequently stays close to the sea surface. Compared with the diets of other yellow-legged gull populations or any of the other closely related gull species, such as the herring (L. argentatus) and the lesser black-backed gull (L. fuscus), Polybius henslowii appears as a characteristic and even exclusive prey of yellow-legged gull populations in the Iberian Atlantic. There is also some evidence that the regular irruption of large Polybius henslowii shoals is a phenomenon peculiar to Iberian Atlantic waters.