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Attempted Ambush Predation on Spawning Squids LoligoVulgaris Reynaudii by Benthic Pyjama Sharks, PorodermaAfricanum, off South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Malcolm J. Smale ,
Warwick H. H. Sauer  and
Roger T. Hanlon
Malcolm J. Smale
Affiliation:
Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa
Warwick H. H. Sauer
Affiliation:
Port Elizabeth Museum, PO Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa
Roger T. Hanlon
Affiliation:
Marine Biomedical Institute, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77550–2772, USA
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Extract

This first description of behavioural interactions between benthic pyjama sharks Poroderma africanum (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) and spawning squids Loligo vulgaris reynaudii (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae) was made from underwater video recordings. The behaviours are described and illustrated to show that the sharks searched for squids in egg beds, then rested there partially hidden and immobile. The pyjama sharks at-tempted to ambush the squids when they approached to lay their eggs after they had apparently habituated to the predators. Although normally nocturnal, the pyjama sharks had emerged by day from caves and cracks in the rocky reef to attack the spawning squids, thereby benefiting from an occasionally available resource.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , August 1995 , pp. 739 - 742
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1995

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