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Short Note: The Antarctic toothfish: how common a prey for Weddell seals?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2007

P.J. Ponganis
Affiliation:
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0204, USApponganis@ucsd.edu
T.K. Stockard
Affiliation:
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0204, USApponganis@ucsd.edu

Extract

The Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni Norman) has been considered an occasional large prey item of the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii Lesson) (Kooyman 1967, Calhaem & Christoffel 1969, Testa et al. 1985, Castellini et al. 1992, Davis et al. 1999, Fuiman et al. 2002). The seal's most common prey is the Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum Boulenger) as well as benthic and sub-ice fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans (Dearborn 1965, Green & Burton 1987, Plotz 1987, Plotz et al. 1991, Castellini et al. 1992, Burns et al. 1998).

Type
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2007

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