Understanding common dolphin and Australasian gannet feeding associations from nutritional and ethological perspectives

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dc.citation.issue7
dc.citation.volume79
dc.contributor.authorStockin KA
dc.contributor.authorAmiot C
dc.contributor.authorMeynier L
dc.contributor.authorPurvin C
dc.contributor.authorMachovsky-Capuska GE
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-01T20:29:53Z
dc.date.available2024-12-01T20:29:53Z
dc.date.issued2022-09-01
dc.description.abstractPrey detection and subsequent capture is considered a major hypothesis to explain feeding associations between common dolphins and Australasian gannets. However, a current lack of insight on nutritional strategies with respect to foraging behaviours of both species has until now, prevented any detailed understanding of this conspecific relationship. Here we combine stomach content analysis (SCA), nutritional composition of prey, a multidimensional nutritional niche framework (MNNF) and videography to provide a holistic dietary, nutritional, and behavioural assessment of the feeding association between dolphins and gannets in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Dolphins consumed ten prey species, including grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) as the most representative by wet mass (33.4%). Gannets preyed upon six species, with pilchards (Sardinops pilchardus) contributing most of the diet by wet mass (32.4%) to their diet. Both predators jointly preyed upon pilchard, jack mackerel (Trachurus spp.), arrow squid (genus Nototodarus), and anchovy (Engraulis australis). Accordingly, the MNNF revealed a moderate overlap in the prey composition niche (0.42) and realized nutritional niche (0.52) between dolphins and gannets. This suggests that both predators coexist in a similar nutritional space, while simultaneously reducing interspecific competition and maximizing the success of both encountering and exploiting patchily distributed prey. Behavioural analysis further indicated that dolphin and gannets feeding associations are likely to be mutually beneficial, with a carouselling foraging strategy and larger pod sizes of dolphins, influencing the diving altitude of gannets. Our approach provides a new, more holistic understanding of this iconic foraging relationship, which until now has been poorly understood.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionSeptember 2022
dc.format.pagination2032-2042
dc.identifier.citationStockin KA, Amiot C, Meynier L, Purvin C, Machovsky-Capuska GE. (2022). Understanding common dolphin and Australasian gannet feeding associations from nutritional and ethological perspectives. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 79. 7. (pp. 2032-2042).
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/icesjms/fsac133
dc.identifier.eissn1095-9289
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn1054-3139
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/72125
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherOxford University Press on behalf of International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
dc.publisher.urihttps://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/79/7/2032/6660730
dc.relation.isPartOfICES Journal of Marine Science
dc.rights(c) The author/sen
dc.rights.licenseCC BYen
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectDelphinus delphis
dc.subjectMorus serrator
dc.subjectmultidimensional nutritional niche framework
dc.subjectmutualism
dc.subjectmarine predators
dc.subjectHauraki Gulf
dc.subjectSDG14
dc.titleUnderstanding common dolphin and Australasian gannet feeding associations from nutritional and ethological perspectives
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id459612
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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