Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams
We analysed seasonal changes in the sizes of prey [grey mullets (Mugilidae), flatfish (Soleidae), eel Anguilla anguilla and crayfish Procambarus clarkii] consumed by otters Lutra lutra Linnaeus, 1758 in a Mediterranean-climate coastal area and relate them to the frequencies of occurrence of each pre...
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Polish Academy of Sciences
2007
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ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/63379 2024-02-11T09:55:32+01:00 Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams Clavero, Miguel Prenda, José Delibes, M. 2007 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/63379 en eng Polish Academy of Sciences issn: 0001-7051 Acta Theriologica 52: 37- 44 (2007) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/63379 none artículo http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2007 ftcsic 2024-01-16T09:43:53Z We analysed seasonal changes in the sizes of prey [grey mullets (Mugilidae), flatfish (Soleidae), eel Anguilla anguilla and crayfish Procambarus clarkii] consumed by otters Lutra lutra Linnaeus, 1758 in a Mediterranean-climate coastal area and relate them to the frequencies of occurrence of each prey species in otter diet. The sizes of over 1500 otter prey were estimated from measurements of key pieces found in 814 otter spraints, which were collected in lower stream stretches in a sandy coastal area. Clear relationships between mean prey size and frequency of occurrence were observed for the four prey types. These relationships were positive for grey mullets, flatfish and crayfish (ie they occurred more in otter diet when more large individuals were predated), but was negative in the case of eels. Results suggest that these patterns could be related to seasonal changes in habitat use. Previous works in the study area showed that otter concentrate its predation efforts in freshwater stream stretches during spring and summer, when more and larger crayfish are available. Freshwater stretches have neither grey mullets nor flatfish, while eels are larger and scarcer there than near streams' mouths, where crayfish is absent. Peer Reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Lutra lutra Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
op_collection_id |
ftcsic |
language |
English |
description |
We analysed seasonal changes in the sizes of prey [grey mullets (Mugilidae), flatfish (Soleidae), eel Anguilla anguilla and crayfish Procambarus clarkii] consumed by otters Lutra lutra Linnaeus, 1758 in a Mediterranean-climate coastal area and relate them to the frequencies of occurrence of each prey species in otter diet. The sizes of over 1500 otter prey were estimated from measurements of key pieces found in 814 otter spraints, which were collected in lower stream stretches in a sandy coastal area. Clear relationships between mean prey size and frequency of occurrence were observed for the four prey types. These relationships were positive for grey mullets, flatfish and crayfish (ie they occurred more in otter diet when more large individuals were predated), but was negative in the case of eels. Results suggest that these patterns could be related to seasonal changes in habitat use. Previous works in the study area showed that otter concentrate its predation efforts in freshwater stream stretches during spring and summer, when more and larger crayfish are available. Freshwater stretches have neither grey mullets nor flatfish, while eels are larger and scarcer there than near streams' mouths, where crayfish is absent. Peer Reviewed |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clavero, Miguel Prenda, José Delibes, M. |
spellingShingle |
Clavero, Miguel Prenda, José Delibes, M. Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
author_facet |
Clavero, Miguel Prenda, José Delibes, M. |
author_sort |
Clavero, Miguel |
title |
Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
title_short |
Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
title_full |
Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
title_fullStr |
Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
title_full_unstemmed |
Does size matter? Relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in South Iberian coastal streams |
title_sort |
does size matter? relating consumed prey sizes and diet composition of otters in south iberian coastal streams |
publisher |
Polish Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/63379 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla Lutra lutra |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla Lutra lutra |
op_relation |
issn: 0001-7051 Acta Theriologica 52: 37- 44 (2007) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/63379 |
op_rights |
none |
_version_ |
1790597198630617088 |