Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Fishery Bulletin 111 (2013): 381-389, doi:10.7755/FB.111.4.7.
Description:
We describe the food habits
of the Sowerby’s beaked whale
(Mesoplodon bidens) from observations
of 10 individuals taken as
bycatch in the pelagic drift gillnet
fishery for Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)
in the western North Atlantic
and 1 stranded individual from
Kennebunk, Maine. The stomachs
of 8 bycaught whales were intact
and contained prey. The diet of
these 8 whales was dominated by
meso- and benthopelagic fishes that
composed 98.5% of the prey items
found in their stomachs and cephalopods
that accounted for only 1.5%
of the number of prey. Otoliths and
jaws representing at least 31 fish
taxa from 15 families were present
in the stomach contents. Fishes,
primarily from the families Moridae
(37.9% of prey), Myctophidae
(22.9%), Macrouridae (11.2%), and
Phycidae (7.2%), were present in all
8 stomachs. Most prey were from 5
fish taxa: Shortbeard Codling (Laemonema
barbatulum) accounted for
35.3% of otoliths, Cocco’s Lanternfish
(Lobianchia gemellarii) contributed
12.9%, Marlin-spike (Nezumia
bairdii) composed 10.8%, lanternfishes
(Lampanyctus spp.) accounted
for 8.4%; and Longfin Hake (Phycis
chesteri) contributed 6.7%. The mean
number of otoliths per stomach was
1196 (range: 327–3452). Most of the
fish prey found in the stomachs was
quite small, ranging in length from
4.0 to 27.7 cm. We conclude that the
Sowerby’s beaked whales that we
examined in this study fed on large
numbers of relatively small meso and
benthopelagic fishes that are
abundant along the slope and shelf
break of the western North Atlantic.
Description:
This work was funded by the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
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