Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009
Harbour seals in Svalbard have short longevity, despite being protected from human hunting and having limited terrestrial predation at their haulout sites, low contaminant burdens and no fishery by-catch issues. This led us to explore the diet of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) in this re...
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ftpangaea:oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 2023-05-15T14:26:40+02:00 Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E Lydersen, Christian Haug, Tore Bachmann, Lutz Fisk, Aaron T Kovacs, Kit Maureen LATITUDE: 79.005000 * LONGITUDE: 11.669000 * DATE/TIME START: 2008-06-07T00:00:00 * DATE/TIME END: 2009-06-25T00:00:00 2012-06-06 application/zip, 4 datasets https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 en eng PANGAEA https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 CC-BY-3.0: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC-BY Supplement to: Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E; Lydersen, Christian; Haug, Tore; Bachmann, Lutz; Fisk, Aaron T; Kovacs, Kit Maureen (2012): A missing piece in the Arctic food web puzzle? Stomach contents of Greenland sharks sampled in Svalbard, Norway. Polar Biology, 35(8), 1197-1208, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1166-7 Biological sample BIOS International Polar Year (2007-2008) IPY Kongsfjorden Spitsbergen Arctic Dataset 2012 ftpangaea https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1166-7 2023-01-20T07:33:01Z Harbour seals in Svalbard have short longevity, despite being protected from human hunting and having limited terrestrial predation at their haulout sites, low contaminant burdens and no fishery by-catch issues. This led us to explore the diet of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) in this region as a potential seal predator. We examined gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 45 Greenland sharks in this study. These sharks ranged from 229 to 381 cm in fork length and 136-700 kg in body mass; all were sexually immature. Seal and whale tissues were found in 36.4 and 18.2%, respectively, of the GITs that had contents (n = 33). Based on genetic analyses, the dominant seal prey species was the ringed seal (Pusa hispida); bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) tissues were each found in a single shark. The sharks had eaten ringed seal pups and adults based on the presence of lanugo-covered prey (pups) and age determinations based on growth rings on claws (<1 year and adults). All of the whale tissue was from minke whale (Balenoptera acutorostrata) offal, from animals that had been harvested in the whale fishery near Svalbard. Fish dominated the sharks' diet, with Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) being the most important fish species. Circumstantial evidence suggests that these sharks actively prey on seals and fishes, in addition to eating carrion such as the whale tissue. Our study suggests that Greenland sharks may play a significant predatory role in Arctic food webs. Dataset Arctic Arctic atlantic cod bearded seal Cystophora cristata Erignathus barbatus Gadus morhua Greenland hooded seal International Polar Year IPY Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden minke whale Polar Biology Pusa hispida ringed seal Somniosus microcephalus Svalbard Spitsbergen PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science Arctic Greenland Svalbard ENVELOPE(11.669000,11.669000,79.005000,79.005000) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science |
op_collection_id |
ftpangaea |
language |
English |
topic |
Biological sample BIOS International Polar Year (2007-2008) IPY Kongsfjorden Spitsbergen Arctic |
spellingShingle |
Biological sample BIOS International Polar Year (2007-2008) IPY Kongsfjorden Spitsbergen Arctic Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E Lydersen, Christian Haug, Tore Bachmann, Lutz Fisk, Aaron T Kovacs, Kit Maureen Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
topic_facet |
Biological sample BIOS International Polar Year (2007-2008) IPY Kongsfjorden Spitsbergen Arctic |
description |
Harbour seals in Svalbard have short longevity, despite being protected from human hunting and having limited terrestrial predation at their haulout sites, low contaminant burdens and no fishery by-catch issues. This led us to explore the diet of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) in this region as a potential seal predator. We examined gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) from 45 Greenland sharks in this study. These sharks ranged from 229 to 381 cm in fork length and 136-700 kg in body mass; all were sexually immature. Seal and whale tissues were found in 36.4 and 18.2%, respectively, of the GITs that had contents (n = 33). Based on genetic analyses, the dominant seal prey species was the ringed seal (Pusa hispida); bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) tissues were each found in a single shark. The sharks had eaten ringed seal pups and adults based on the presence of lanugo-covered prey (pups) and age determinations based on growth rings on claws (<1 year and adults). All of the whale tissue was from minke whale (Balenoptera acutorostrata) offal, from animals that had been harvested in the whale fishery near Svalbard. Fish dominated the sharks' diet, with Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) being the most important fish species. Circumstantial evidence suggests that these sharks actively prey on seals and fishes, in addition to eating carrion such as the whale tissue. Our study suggests that Greenland sharks may play a significant predatory role in Arctic food webs. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E Lydersen, Christian Haug, Tore Bachmann, Lutz Fisk, Aaron T Kovacs, Kit Maureen |
author_facet |
Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E Lydersen, Christian Haug, Tore Bachmann, Lutz Fisk, Aaron T Kovacs, Kit Maureen |
author_sort |
Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E |
title |
Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
title_short |
Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
title_full |
Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
title_fullStr |
Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characteristics and stomach contents of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) caught in Svalbard during June 2008-2009 |
title_sort |
characteristics and stomach contents of greenland sharks (somniosus microcephalus) caught in svalbard during june 2008-2009 |
publisher |
PANGAEA |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 |
op_coverage |
LATITUDE: 79.005000 * LONGITUDE: 11.669000 * DATE/TIME START: 2008-06-07T00:00:00 * DATE/TIME END: 2009-06-25T00:00:00 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(11.669000,11.669000,79.005000,79.005000) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Arctic atlantic cod bearded seal Cystophora cristata Erignathus barbatus Gadus morhua Greenland hooded seal International Polar Year IPY Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden minke whale Polar Biology Pusa hispida ringed seal Somniosus microcephalus Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic atlantic cod bearded seal Cystophora cristata Erignathus barbatus Gadus morhua Greenland hooded seal International Polar Year IPY Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden minke whale Polar Biology Pusa hispida ringed seal Somniosus microcephalus Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Supplement to: Leclerc, Lisa-Marie E; Lydersen, Christian; Haug, Tore; Bachmann, Lutz; Fisk, Aaron T; Kovacs, Kit Maureen (2012): A missing piece in the Arctic food web puzzle? Stomach contents of Greenland sharks sampled in Svalbard, Norway. Polar Biology, 35(8), 1197-1208, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1166-7 |
op_relation |
https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 |
op_rights |
CC-BY-3.0: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Access constraints: unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.815268 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1166-7 |
_version_ |
1766299949066092544 |