Food caching by a marine apex predator, the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)

• Main Authors: Krause, Douglas J., Rogers, Tracey L.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing) 2018
• Subjects: Hydrurga; Hydrurga leptonyx; Leopard Seal; Leopard Seals
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/95268; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2018-0203

The foraging behaviors of apex predators can fundamentally alter ecosystems through cascading predator-prey interactions. Food caching is a widely-studied, taxonomically-diverse behavior which can modify competitive relationships and affect population viability. We address predictions that food caching would not be observed in the marine environment by summarizing recent caching reports from two marine mammal and one marine reptile species. We also provide multiple caching observations from disparate locations for a fourth marine predator, the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx (de Blainville, 1820)). Drawing from consistent patterns in the terrestrial literature, we suggest the unusual diversity of caching strategies observed in leopard seals is due to high variability in their polar marine habitat. We hypothesize that caching is present across the spectrum of leopard seal social dominance; however, prevalence is likely to increase in smaller, less-dominant animals that hoard to gain competitive advantage. Given the importance of this behavior, we draw attention to the high probability of observing food caching behavior in other marine species. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author.