The diet of juvenile and non-breeding male Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella was investigated at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, by the analysis of 18 and 33 scats collected during the 1995/96 and 1996/97 summer seasons respectively. Overall, fish were the most frequent prey (74,5%) and predominated by mass (54,4%), whereas krill did by number (94.2%). This pattern coincides well with the observed in 1996/97, but in 1995/96 krill was the most important prey also by mass (50.2%). The importance of the remaining taxa represented in the samples (octopods, hyperiids and bivalves) was negligible. Among fish, Myctophiids represented 85 .2% of the fish mass, being Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and Electrona antarctica the main prey. These two species also predominated in 1996/97, whereas Cryodraco antarcticus and Gobionotothen gibberifrons did in 1995/96. The importance of the Myctophiids as prey of the Antarctic fur seal is discussed.
The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands
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WG-EMM-97/60
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