Stomach Contents of Stranded Cuvier’s Beaked Whales on the Turkish Aegean Sea and Northern Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean Sea) Coasts
35th annual European Cetacean Society Conference, Catania, İtalya, 10 - 12 Nisan 2024, ss.363, (Özet Bildiri)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Özet Bildiri
- Basıldığı Şehir: Catania
- Basıldığı Ülke: İtalya
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.363
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır
Özet
Cuvier's beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris, is a cosmopolitan toothed whale species and one of the regular species of cetaceans found in the Mediterranean Sea. This species is also teuthophagous, feeding exclusively on cephalopods. The study was based on the stomach contents of one individual from Seferihisar, Aegean coast of Türkiye in 2016 and five Cuvier’s beaked whales stranded in February 2023, on the northwestern Cyprus Island coast during a multiple stranding event in which at least 13 individuals were affected. A total of 1448 lower beaks were found in six stomachs and 16 cephalopod species were identified. Among these species, six species (Octopoteuthis sicula, Ancistrocheirus lesueurii, Histioteuthis reversa, Chtenopteryx sicula, Chiroteuthis veranii, and Todarodes sagittatus) were found in all stomachs examined and were determined to be the dominant species for the diet of Z. carvirostris sampled in the eastern Mediterranean. Four species; Loligo forbesii, Pyroteuthis margaritifera, Pterygioteuthis giardi and Brachioteuthis riisei were reported for the first time in Cuvier’s beaked whale stomach in the Mediterranean Sea. There are differences in the species composition of the stomach contents between the western Mediterranean and eastern Mediterranean, which may be due to the differences in the cephalopod fauna characterized by sea bottom features and other oceanographic peculiarities. A plastic package was found in one individual in Cyprus. This is the first study on the stomach contents of Cuvier’s beaked whale for the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Seas and reveals basic features of their diet.