Summer diet of the Salvin's prion at sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Thirty-nine food samples were collected from Salvin’s prions Pachyptila salvini at sub-Antarctic Marion Island, Prince Edward Islands. The diet was dominated by crustaceans which formed 44,2% of the mass, 99,7% of prey items and occurred in 97,4% of the samples. Amphipods were of particular importan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gartshore, N.A., Steele, W.K., Klages, N.T.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: NISC (Pty) Ltd 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/153478
Description
Summary:Thirty-nine food samples were collected from Salvin’s prions Pachyptila salvini at sub-Antarctic Marion Island, Prince Edward Islands. The diet was dominated by crustaceans which formed 44,2% of the mass, 99,7% of prey items and occurred in 97,4% of the samples. Amphipods were of particular importance, the most abundant species being Themisto gaudichaudii. There was a marked absence of copepods which are an important element in the diets of both the dove P. desolata and broad-billed prions P. vittata. Prey included fish (41,9% by mass) and cephalopods. The results are compared with published data for dove, Salvin’s and broad-billed prions collected at other islands, and with data from Marion Island for blue petrels Halobaena caerulea.