Top predators and stable isotopes document the cephalopod fauna and its trophic relationships in Kerguelen waters ...

• Main Authors: Cherel, Yves, Gasco, Nicolas, Duhamel, Guy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cybium 2011
• Subjects: Beaks, Octopus, Seabirds, Southern Ocean, Squid, Stable isotopes, Toothfish; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.26028/cybium/2011-35sp-010; http://sfi-cybium.fr/fr/top-predators-and-stable-isotopes-document-cephalopod-fauna-and-its-trophic-relationships-kerguelen

Information on the poorly known but ecologically important cephalopod fauna of Subantarctic islands was collected using fishery bycatches, together with published data from oceanographic cruises and top predators (fishes and seabirds) as biological samplers. Overall, the cephalopod fauna from Kerguelen Islands includes at least 38 different species. Oegopsid squids dominate the assemblage over octopods (31 and 6 taxa, respectively), with one species of sepiolid occurring over the shelf. This rich community includes a large diversity of pelagic squids, four benthopelagic cirrate octopods and two endemic benthic octopodids. The results emphasize the importance of ommastrephids, onychoteuthids, cranchiids and a few other squid species in the nutrition of top consumers in the Southern Ocean. The trophic structure of the community of cephalopods (n = 18 representative species) was subsequently investigated by using the stable isotopic signature of their chitinized beaks. δ13C values demonstrated that cephalopods ...