The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis
Stable isotope analyses were used to investigate the diet of Weddell seals in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) and the potential variation of their foraging behaviour with age, sex and body mass. For this purpose, skin samples were collected from adult breeding seals and pups, together with muscle samples...
Published in: | The European Zoological Journal |
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2020
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ftopenaccessrep:oai:zenodo.org:44438 2023-05-15T13:50:37+02:00 The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis P. Rumolo I. A. Zappes A. Fabiani M. Barra A. Rakaj R. Palozzi G. Allegrucci 2020-01-01 https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/44438 https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 eng eng url:https://www.openaccessrepository.it/communities/itmirror https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/44438 doi:10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY info:eu-repo/semantics/article publication-article 2020 ftopenaccessrep https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 2022-11-23T06:42:15Z Stable isotope analyses were used to investigate the diet of Weddell seals in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) and the potential variation of their foraging behaviour with age, sex and body mass. For this purpose, skin samples were collected from adult breeding seals and pups, together with muscle samples of their potential prey. Our results showed variation in foraging behavior between age classes, with pups reporting lower δ13C values than adults, while no significant differences in δ15N were recorded. In addition, contrary to expectations, a mixing model analysis showed that adult seals foraged mainly on shallow benthic prey, such as Trematomus spp. (34.1%) and Dissostichus mawsoni (21.1%), rather than on pelagic fish, such as Pleuragramma antarcticum (9.8%). Overall, with this paper we provide novel diet information on a seal colony not previously sampled, adding new insight into the feeding ecology of a top Antarctic predator. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea Weddell Seals Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN): Open Access Repository Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay Weddell The European Zoological Journal 87 1 94 104 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN): Open Access Repository |
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ftopenaccessrep |
language |
English |
description |
Stable isotope analyses were used to investigate the diet of Weddell seals in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) and the potential variation of their foraging behaviour with age, sex and body mass. For this purpose, skin samples were collected from adult breeding seals and pups, together with muscle samples of their potential prey. Our results showed variation in foraging behavior between age classes, with pups reporting lower δ13C values than adults, while no significant differences in δ15N were recorded. In addition, contrary to expectations, a mixing model analysis showed that adult seals foraged mainly on shallow benthic prey, such as Trematomus spp. (34.1%) and Dissostichus mawsoni (21.1%), rather than on pelagic fish, such as Pleuragramma antarcticum (9.8%). Overall, with this paper we provide novel diet information on a seal colony not previously sampled, adding new insight into the feeding ecology of a top Antarctic predator. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
P. Rumolo I. A. Zappes A. Fabiani M. Barra A. Rakaj R. Palozzi G. Allegrucci |
spellingShingle |
P. Rumolo I. A. Zappes A. Fabiani M. Barra A. Rakaj R. Palozzi G. Allegrucci The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
author_facet |
P. Rumolo I. A. Zappes A. Fabiani M. Barra A. Rakaj R. Palozzi G. Allegrucci |
author_sort |
P. Rumolo |
title |
The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
title_short |
The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
title_full |
The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
title_fullStr |
The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
The diet of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Terra Nova Bay using stable isotope analysis |
title_sort |
diet of weddell seals (leptonychotes weddellii) in terra nova bay using stable isotope analysis |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/44438 https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 |
geographic |
Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Ross Sea Terra Nova Bay Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Ross Sea Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
url:https://www.openaccessrepository.it/communities/itmirror https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/44438 doi:10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2020.1720832 |
container_title |
The European Zoological Journal |
container_volume |
87 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
94 |
op_container_end_page |
104 |
_version_ |
1766253776242475008 |