Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The fish diet of black-browed albatrossDiomedea melanophris and grey-headed albatrossD. Chrysostoma at South Georgia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The fish component of the diet of black browed and grey-headed albatrosses at South Georgia was investigated by intercepting 155 meals from adults arriving to feed chicks during February 1986 and 1994. Fish represented 30% and 72% by mass of the diet of black-browed albatrosses and 14% and 60% by mass of the diet of grey-headed albatrosses in 1986 and 1994 respectively. We determined the identity and quantified the contribution (by numbers, size and mass) of fish species mainly by using otoliths (54 representing 9 taxa and 57 representing 17 taxa in black-browed and greyheaded albatross samples respectively). For blackbrowed albatrosses in 1986 the main fish prey wasPatagonotothen guntheri (77% of otoliths, 51% of estimated fish biomass) and a single large specimen ofIcichthys australis (40% estimated biomass), whereas in 1994 Pseudochaenichthys georgianus was the main fish prey (57% of estimated biomass) withMagnisudis prionosa (30%) andChampsocephalus gunnari (12%) also making substantial contributions. Grey-headed albatross samples from 1986 were dominated by southern lampreys (40% by number, 79% of estimated bio mass), lanternfish (32% of numbers, 9% by mass) andPatagonotothen guntheri (11% by mass); in 1994Champsocephalus gunnari (42% by numbers, 24% by mass),Magnisudis prionosa (13% by number, 36% by mass),Muraenolepis microps (90% by number),Pseudochaenichthys georgianus (15% by mass) and lanternfish (18% by number but only 1% by mass) were the main prey. The importance ofPatagonotothen guntheri to both species in 1986 and its absence in 1994 probably reflect albatrosses obtaining it from the commercial fishery, which was active in 1986 but closed in 1994. Otherwise the fish diet of black-browed albatrosses is dominated by krill-feeding fish, characteristic of the waters of the South Georgia shelf. In contrast, the grey-headed albatross diet comprises deeper water mesopelagic species, especially lanternfish, which reflect its affinity for the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone and associated oceanic upwellings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashford JR, Croxall JP, Rubilar PS, Moreno CA (1995) Seabird interactions with long-lining operations forDissostichus eleginoides around South Georgia, April–May 1994. CCAMLR Sci 1:143–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd IL, Croxall JP, Lunn NJ, Reid K (1995) Population demography of Antarctic for seals the cost of reproduction and implications for life-histories. J Anim Ecol 64:505–518

    Google Scholar 

  • CCAMLR (1990) Statistical Bulletin. SC-CCAMLR-IX/BG/2 Rev 1 Part 2: CCAMLR, HOBART

  • Cooper J, Klages NTW (1995) The diets and dietary segregation of sooty albatrossesPhoebetria spp. at subantarctic Marion Island. Antarct Sci 7:15–23

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper J, Henley SR, Klages NTW (1992) The diet of wandering albatrossDiomedea exulans at subantarctic Marion Island. Polar Biol 12: 477–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, Prince PA (1994) Dead or alive, night or day, how do albatrosses catch squid? Antarct Sci 6:155–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, North AW, Prince PA (1988a) Fish prey of the wandering albatrossDiomedea exulans at South Georgia. Polar Biol 9:9–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, McCann TS, Prince PA, Rothery P (1988b) Reproductive performance of seabirds and seals at South Georgia and Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, 1976–1987: implications for Southern Ocean monitoring studies. In: Sahrhage D (ed) Antarctic Ocean and resources variability. Springer. Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 261–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, Hall AJ, Hill HJ, North AW, Rodhouse PG (1995) The food and feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrelProcellaria aequinoctialis at South Georgia. J Zool London 237:133–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Gon O, Heemstra PC (1990) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. JLB Smith Institute, Grahamstown

    Google Scholar 

  • Green K, Williams R, Handasyde K, Burton HR, Shaughnessy PD (1990) Interspecific and intra-specific differences in the diets of three species ofArctocephalus (Pinnipedia:Otariidae) at Macquarie Island. Aust Mammal 13:193–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht T (1987) A guide to the otoliths of Southern Ocean fishes. S Afr J Antarct Res 17:1–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Hindell MA (1988a) The diet of king penguinAptenodytes patagonicus at Macquarie Island. Ibis 130:193–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Hindell MA (1988b) The diet of royal penguinEudyptes schlegeli at Macquarie Island. Emu 88:219–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulley PA (1981) Results of the research cruises of FRVWalther Herwig to South America.LVIII. Family Myctophidae (Osteichthyes, Myctophiformes). Arch Fischereiwiss 31:1–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S, Klages NTW (1989) The diet of grey-headed albatrossesDiomedea chrysostoma at the Prince Edward Islands. S Afr J Antarct Res 19:31–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Klages NTW (1989) Food and feeding ecology of emperor penguins in the eastern Weddell Sea. Polar Biol 9:385–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kock K-H (1992) Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Naumov AG, Svetlov MF, Kozlov AN, Pinskaya IA (1983) Some peculiarities of the distribution and feeding ofNotothenia guentheri Norman (Nototheniidae). Vopr Ikhtiol 23:156–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Potter IC, Prince PA, Croxall JP (1979) Data on the adult marine and migratory phase in the life cycle of the southern hemisphere lamprey,Geotria australis Gray. Environ Biol Fish 4:65–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prince PA (1980) The food and feeding ecology of the grey-headed albatrossDiomedea chrysostoma and black-browed albatrossD. melanophris. Ibis 122:476–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince PA, Ricketts C (1981) Relationships between food supply and growth in albatrosses: an inter-species chick fostering experiment. Ornis Scand 12:207–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince PA, Huin N, Weimerskirch H (1994) Diving depths of albatrosses. Antarct Sci 6:353–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince PA, Croxall JP, Trathan PN, Wood AG (in press) Foraging strategies of South Georgia albatrosses and relationships with fisheries. In: Robertson G (ed) Albatross biology. Surrey Beatty, Melbourne

  • Reid K, Arnould JPY (1996) The diet of Antarctic for sealsArctocephalus gazella during the breeding season at South Georgia. Polar Biol 16:105–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Rembiszewski JM (1981) Pseudoicichthys australis (Haedrich, 1966) andAnotopterus pharao (Zugmayer, 1911), rare fishes from Antarctic waters. Ann Zool Warsaw 36:241–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricketts C, Prince PA (1981) Comparison of growth of albatrosses. Ornis Scand 12:120–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Ridoux V (1994) The diets and dietary segregation of seabirds at the subantarctic Crozet Island. Mar Ornithol 22:1–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodhouse PG, Prince PA, Clarke MR, Murray AWA (1990) Cephalopod prey of the grey-headed albatross Diomedea chrysostoma. Mar Biol 104:353–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodhouse PG, White MG, Jones MRR (1992) Trophic relations of the cephalopodMartialia hyadesi (Teuthoidea:Ommastrephidae) at the Antarctic Polar Front, Scotia Sea. Mar Biol 114:415–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas G (1982) The food and feeding ecology of the light-mantled sooty albatross at South Georgia. Emu 82:92–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson KR (1992) Quantitative analysis of the use of discards from squid trawlers by black-browed albatrossesDiomedea melanophris in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. Ibis 134:11–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson KR, Riddy MD (1995) Utilization of offal and discards from ‘finfish’ trawlers around the Falkland Islands by the blackbrowed albatrossDiomedea melanophris. Ibis 137:198–206

    Google Scholar 

  • White MG, North AW (1980)Pseudoicichthys australis (Pisces, Centrolophidae): an addition to the fauna of South Georgia and confirmation of Antarctic distribution. Br Antarct Surv Bull 50:113–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams R, McEldowney A (1990) A guide to the fish otoliths from waters off the Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and Macquarie Island. ANARE Res Notes, No 75

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, CB3 OET, Cambridge, UK

    K. Reid, J. P. Croxall & P. A. Prince

Authors
  1. K. Reid
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. P. Croxall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. P. A. Prince
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reid, K., Croxall, J.P. & Prince, P.A. The fish diet of black-browed albatrossDiomedea melanophris and grey-headed albatrossD. Chrysostoma at South Georgia. Polar Biol 16, 469–477 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02329065

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02329065

Keywords

Search

Navigation