Leach's storm-petrels prey on lower mesopelagic (Mysidacea and Decapoda) crustaceans: possible implications for crustacean and avian distributions

• Published in: Crustaceana
• Main Authors: Montevecchi, William A., Steele, D.H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Brill Academic Publishers 1994
• Subjects: QH301 Biology; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/1759/; https://research.library.mun.ca/1759/1/Leach_s_Storm-Petrels_Prey_On_Lower_Mesopelagic_Mysidacea_and_Decapoda_Crustaceans_Possible_Implications_for_Crustacean_and_Avian_Distributions_.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/1759/3/Leach_s_Storm-Petrels_Prey_On_Lower_Mesopelagic_Mysidacea_and_Decapoda_Crustaceans_Possible_Implications_for_Crustacean_and_Avian_Distributions_.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1163/156854094X00693

Three species of rarely collected lower mesopelagic crustaceans (the mysid Eucopia grimaldii, and the decapods Sergestes arcticus and Hymenodora gracilis) were found in regurgitated parental food delivered to a breeding colony of Leach's storm-petrels off southern Newfoundland (46°53'N 56°05'W). The known distributions of these crustaceans are consistent with other deep water mesopelagic animals, such as myctophid fish that are the main prey of Leach's storm-petrels in southern Newfoundland. The occurrences of these deep water species as prey support previous contentions that these seabirds forage over deep water and also raises the possibility that these crustaceans may migrate nearer to the surface than previously indicated.