Diet composition and seasonal feeding patterns of a freshwater ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis)
Auttila, M., Sinisalo, T., Valtonen, M., Niemi, M., Viljanen, M., Kurkilahti, M., & Kunnasranta, M. (2015). Diet composition and seasonal feeding patterns of a freshwater ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis). Marine Mammal Science, 31(1), 45-65. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12133
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Marine Mammal ScienceAuthors
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2015Copyright
© 2014 Society for Marine Mammalogy. This is an author's final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Society for Marine Mammalogy (Wiley). Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.
The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis) is one of the few freshwater seal
populations worldwide. The major conservation issue of this critically endangered
population is bycatch mortality. We used digestive tract content and stable
isotopes (d13C and d15N) to estimate the diet and seasonal feeding patterns for
gaining better understanding of the seals feeding habits and potential conservation
implications. The diet was similar across age groups. Altogether 15 fish species
were identified and the most important were smelt (Osmerus eperlanus), ruff
(Gymnocephalus cernuus), perch (Perca fluviatilis), vendace (Coregonus albula) and
cyprinids. The high d15N values suggested that the seals lose weight during winter
and spring. Additionally the drop in d15N values indicated that pups start to
recover from postweaning stress and gain weight around the age of 6 mo. The isotope
values differed regionally, which emphasizes that samples from consumers
and prey should be collected from the same regions to improve interpretation of
the stable isotopic results. Overall, diet composition suggests minimal to nonexistent
competition with commercial or recreational fishing. However, observed
weight loss of pups during summer may be related to higher risk of bycatch and
this should be taken into account when planning temporal fishing closures.
...
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Wiley-Blackwell PublishingISSN Search the Publication Forum
0824-0469Keywords
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