Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:20:42.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Stomach contents of two Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) stranded in the Adriatic Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2010

Iva Kovačić*
Affiliation:
Biology Department, The Faculty of Science, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Martina Đuras Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embriology, The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Hrvoje Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embriology, The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Hrvoje Lucić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embriology, The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
Tomislav Gomerčić
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embriology, The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Heinzelova 55, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: I. Kovačić, Biology Department, The Faculty of Science, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The stomach contents of two Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) stranded along the eastern Adriatic coast were examined. One was a male stranded in 2004 and the other was a newborn stranded in 2008. Milk was found in the newborn's stomach. The prey of the male was only cephalopods belonging mainly to the Teuthoidea. Five families and seven species were identified. Octopoteuthis sicula represented about 50% of estimated prey weight and Chiroteuthis veranyi was the most frequent species (estimated from the quantity of lower beaks). Three species are not listed in the Adriatic fauna, while the other species are found in middle and lower slope cephalopod assemblages in the southern Adriatic Sea.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baird, R.W., Webster, D.L., McSweeney, D.J., Ligon, A.D., Schorr, G.S. and Barlow, J. (2006) Diving behaviour of Cuvier's (Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville's (Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales in Hawai'i. Canadian Journal of Zoology 84, 11201128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bello, G. (1990) The cephalopod fauna of the Adriatic. Acta Adriatica 31, 275291.Google Scholar
Blanco, C. and Raga, J.A. (2000) Cephalopod prey of two Ziphius cavirostris (Cetacea) stranded on the western Mediterranean coast. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 80, 381382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlini, R., Pulcini, M. and Wurtz, M. (1992) Cephalopods from the stomach of a Cuvier's beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris, (Cuvier, 1823) stranded at Fiumicino, Central Tyrrhenian Sea. In Evans, P.G.H. (ed.) Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, San Remo, Italy, 20–22 February 1992. Cambridge, UK: European Cetacean Society, pp. 190191. [European Research on Cetaceans, no. 6.]Google Scholar
Clarke, M.R. (1986) A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Cushman-Rosin, B., Gačić, M., Poulani, P. and Artegiani, A. (eds) (2001) Physical oceanography of the Adriatic Sea. Past, present and future. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gomerčić, H., Gomerčić, M.D., Gomerčić, T., Lucić, H., Dalebout, M., Galov, A., Surković, D., Škrtić, D., Vuković, S. and Huber, D. (2006) Biological aspects of Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) recorded in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. European Journal for Wildlife Research 52, 182187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyning, J.E. (1989) Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris G. Cuvier, 1923. In Ridgway, S.H. and Harrison, R. (eds) Handbook of marine mammals. Volume 4. River dolphins and the larger toothed whales. London: Academic Press, pp. 289308.Google Scholar
Holcer, D., Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Fortuna, C.M., Lazar, B. and Onofri, V. (2007) Occurrence of Cuvier's beaked whales in the southern Adriatic Sea: evidence of an important Mediterranean habitat. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87, 359362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaspiris, P. and Tsiambaos, P. (1984) Some uncommon cephalopods from western Korinthiakos Gulf (Molusca–Dibranchiata). Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo. Biljeske Notes 62, 14.Google Scholar
Krstulović Šifner, S., Lefkaditou, E., Ungaro, N., Ceriola, L., Osmani, K., Kavadas, S. and Vrgoč, N. (2005) Composition and distribution of the cephalopod fauna in the eastern Adriatic and eastern Ionian Seas. Israel Journal of Zoology 51, 116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefkaditou, E., Mytilineou, Ch., Maiorano, P. and D'Onghia, G. (2003) Cephalopod species captured by deep-water exploratory trawling in the northeastern Ionian Sea. Fisheries Science 31, 431440.Google Scholar
Lefkaditou, E. and Poulopoulos, Y. (1998) Cephalopod remains in the stomach-content of beaked whales, Ziphius cavirostris (Cuvier 1823) from the Ionian Sea. Rapport du 35e Congres de la Commision Internationale pour l'Exploration Scientifique de la Mer Méditerranée 35, 460461.Google Scholar
MacLeod, C.D. and Mitchell, G. (2006) Key areas for beaked whales worldwide. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 7, 309322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podestà, M. and Meotti, C. (1991) The stomach contents of a Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris, and a Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus, stranded in Italy. In Evans, P.G.H. (ed.) Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Sandefjord, Norway, 21–23 February 1991. Cambridge, UK: European Cetacean Society, pp. 5861. [European Research on Cetaceans, no. 5.]Google Scholar
Salaman, A. and Katağan, T. (2002) Cephalopod fauna of the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish Journal of Zoology 26, 4752.Google Scholar
Santos, M.B., Pierce, G.J., Herman, J., Lopez, A., Guerra, A., Mente, E. and Clarke, M.R. (2001) Feeding ecology of Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris): a review with new information on the diet of this species. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 81, 687694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyack, P.L., Johnson, M., Aguilar Soto, N., Sturlese, A. and Madsen, P.T. (2006) Extreme diving of beaked whales. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 42384253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Voss, N.A., Nesis, K.N. and Rodhouse, P.G. (1998) The cephalopod family Histioteuthidae (Oegopsida): systematics, biology, and biogeography. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 586, 293372.Google Scholar