Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx
Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans....
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 |
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ftsmithonian:oai:figshare.com:article/17211614 2023-05-15T16:36:25+02:00 Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx Krista van der Linde (11843963) Ingrid N. Visser (3321249) Rick Bout (7249670) Chris Lalas (532879) Lara Shepherd (619934) David Hocking (3877189) Brittany Finucci (9663671) Jim Fyfe (7249658) Matthew Pinkerton (11843966) 2021-12-16T05:18:57Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 unknown https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Leopard_Seals_Hydrurga_leptonyx_in_New_Zealand_Waters_Predating_on_Chondrichthyans_docx/17211614 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 CC BY 4.0 CC-BY Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering chondrichthyans diet elephantfish ghost shark leopard seal predation scat spiny dogfish Dataset 2021 ftsmithonian https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 2021-12-19T19:22:17Z Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans. As part of a wider study on the diet of leopard seals in New Zealand (NZ) waters, researchers and citizen scientists recorded 39 observations of predation and collected 127 scats (166 total records) between 1942 and 2019. Predation on chondrichthyans was detected in 23.1% (n = 9) of observations of predation and 7.1% (n = 9) of scats (the latter via morphological examination and DNA sequencing). From both observations of predations and scats, three chondrichthyan species or genus were identified; elephantfish (Callorhinchus milii), ghost sharks (Hydrolagus spp.) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). While this is the first published record of leopard seals feeding on chondrichthyans, the relatively high frequency of occurrence within our NZ records, and that certain individuals appeared to target this type of prey, indicates that these species could constitute a substantial, or important, part of the diet for some leopard seals in this region. As chondrichthyans form an important part of the NZ marine ecosystems, our recognition of an additional top-order predator of these species contributes to understanding the overall health of, and future impacts of predators on, the wider NZ marine ecosystem. Dataset Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias Unknown Hydrurga ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) New Zealand |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftsmithonian |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering chondrichthyans diet elephantfish ghost shark leopard seal predation scat spiny dogfish |
spellingShingle |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering chondrichthyans diet elephantfish ghost shark leopard seal predation scat spiny dogfish Krista van der Linde (11843963) Ingrid N. Visser (3321249) Rick Bout (7249670) Chris Lalas (532879) Lara Shepherd (619934) David Hocking (3877189) Brittany Finucci (9663671) Jim Fyfe (7249658) Matthew Pinkerton (11843966) Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
topic_facet |
Oceanography Marine Biology Marine Geoscience Biological Oceanography Chemical Oceanography Physical Oceanography Marine Engineering chondrichthyans diet elephantfish ghost shark leopard seal predation scat spiny dogfish |
description |
Leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) are top-order predators that prey on a wide variety of species including crustaceans, cephalopods, fishes, birds, and pinnipeds. While multiple diet studies have been conducted worldwide, there are no previous accounts of leopard seals predating on chondrichthyans. As part of a wider study on the diet of leopard seals in New Zealand (NZ) waters, researchers and citizen scientists recorded 39 observations of predation and collected 127 scats (166 total records) between 1942 and 2019. Predation on chondrichthyans was detected in 23.1% (n = 9) of observations of predation and 7.1% (n = 9) of scats (the latter via morphological examination and DNA sequencing). From both observations of predations and scats, three chondrichthyan species or genus were identified; elephantfish (Callorhinchus milii), ghost sharks (Hydrolagus spp.) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). While this is the first published record of leopard seals feeding on chondrichthyans, the relatively high frequency of occurrence within our NZ records, and that certain individuals appeared to target this type of prey, indicates that these species could constitute a substantial, or important, part of the diet for some leopard seals in this region. As chondrichthyans form an important part of the NZ marine ecosystems, our recognition of an additional top-order predator of these species contributes to understanding the overall health of, and future impacts of predators on, the wider NZ marine ecosystem. |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Krista van der Linde (11843963) Ingrid N. Visser (3321249) Rick Bout (7249670) Chris Lalas (532879) Lara Shepherd (619934) David Hocking (3877189) Brittany Finucci (9663671) Jim Fyfe (7249658) Matthew Pinkerton (11843966) |
author_facet |
Krista van der Linde (11843963) Ingrid N. Visser (3321249) Rick Bout (7249670) Chris Lalas (532879) Lara Shepherd (619934) David Hocking (3877189) Brittany Finucci (9663671) Jim Fyfe (7249658) Matthew Pinkerton (11843966) |
author_sort |
Krista van der Linde (11843963) |
title |
Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
title_short |
Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
title_full |
Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
title_fullStr |
Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data_Sheet_1_Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in New Zealand Waters Predating on Chondrichthyans.docx |
title_sort |
data_sheet_1_leopard seals (hydrurga leptonyx) in new zealand waters predating on chondrichthyans.docx |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.626,-61.626,-64.145,-64.145) |
geographic |
Hydrurga New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
Hydrurga New Zealand |
genre |
Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias |
genre_facet |
Hydrurga leptonyx Leopard Seal Leopard Seals spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias |
op_relation |
https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Sheet_1_Leopard_Seals_Hydrurga_leptonyx_in_New_Zealand_Waters_Predating_on_Chondrichthyans_docx/17211614 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.795358.s001 |
_version_ |
1766026751659474944 |