Abstract
In the Southern Ocean and adjacent waters, early stages of cephalopods play an important role in food webs as prey to top predators, but few is known regarding their biology and availability. Snares Penguin, Eudyptes robustus, is a top predator endemic to Snares Islands (New Zealand) that feed on cephalopods. As historical data on diet are rare for this species, Snares Penguins were used as biological samplers to evaluate the cephalopod component of its diet, where habitat and trophic level of cephalopods around the Snares Islands was assessed through stable isotope analysis. Moreover, ontogenic changes of juvenile squid were evaluated. Data collection were carried out during the breeding season 1986–87 and its analysis revealed that penguins fed on three juvenile cephalopod species: two squids (Nototodarus sloanii and Moroteuthopsis ingens) and one octopod (Octopus campbelli). Nototodarus sloanii was the most important species in frequency of occurrence and mass, whereas M. ingens was the most important in number. Juvenile squid species showed similar δ13C values, suggesting both occupied similar habitats on the Snares shelf, whereas juvenile O. campbelli showed lower δ13C values. Moreover, O. campbelli fed on higher trophic level (δ15N) prey relative to squid species. Lower diversity and larger sizes of cephalopods were found when compared with data from 2002. This study shows that Snares Penguin can be a good local biological sampler of juvenile cephalopods during their breeding season, providing both essential biogeographic information of cephalopod diversity and relevant historical information for the conservation of this endemic penguin species.
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Acknowledgements
This work is an international effort under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) associated programmes, expert and action groups, namely SCAR Ant-ERA, SCAR EGBAMM and ICED programmes. FRC acknowledge the grant (SFRH/BPD/95372/2013) attributed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; Portugal) and the European Social Fund (POPH, EU). This study benefited from a strategic programme of MARE, financed by FCT (UID/MAR/04292/2019).
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In 1986 in New Zealand, there was no requirement for ethics committee approval for the type of field research that was undertake. The overall research on the penguins and methods used had the approval from the New Zealand Wildlife Service.
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Guímaro, H.R., Thompson, D.R., Paiva, V.H. et al. Cephalopods habitat and trophic ecology: historical data using snares penguin as biological sampler. Polar Biol 44, 73–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02776-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02776-2