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Changes in the cephalopod diet of southern elephant seal females at King George Island, during El Niño-La Niña events

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2002

Uwe Piatkowski ,
Daniel F. Vergani  and
Zulma B. Stanganelli
Uwe Piatkowski
Affiliation:
Institut für Meereskunde, Universität Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
Daniel F. Vergani
Affiliation:
Proyecto Cyber Atlas—Centro Nacional Patagónico, CENPAT-CONICET, Boulevard Alm. Brown 3500, 9120 Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina, E-mail: [email protected]
Zulma B. Stanganelli
Affiliation:
Proyecto Cyber Atlas—Centro Nacional Patagónico, CENPAT-CONICET, Boulevard Alm. Brown 3500, 9120 Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Possible effects of ‘El Niño’ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) components ‘El Niño’ and ‘La Niña’ on populations of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, were analysed. Changes in the cephalopod diet composition of moulting females at King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula were considered. The diet of female elephant seals sampled in 1991–1992 and 1992–1993 (El Niño years) were compared with those taken in 1995–1996 (La Niña year) at the same site and employing the same methodology. The squid Psychroteuthis glacialis constituted the main cephalopod prey of the seals. A reduction in the ‘Index of Biomass Ingested’ by female elephant seals (IBIF) of this prey species was observed in ‘El Niño’ years (1992, 1993) compared with the ‘La Niña’ year (1996). This reduction in biomass applied to all squid species in the seals' prey with the exception of Galiteuthis glacialis, which occurred in low numbers, but was more abundant during El Niño years than in the La Niña year.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 82 , Issue 5 , October 2002 , pp. 913 - 916
Copyright
2002 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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