@article{,

title = {Feeding ecology of small cetaceans in the Sultanate of Oman},

author = {Ponnampalam,L.,Collins,T.J.Q.,Minton,G.,Baldwin,R},

year  = {2007},

date = {2007-01-01},

journal = {Poster presented at the 17th meeting of the Society for Marine Mammals in Cape Town},

number = {433},

abstract = {Beach surveys were conducted along the coast of Oman between 2000 and 2006 to locate and examine cetacean remains. This study examines the stomach contents of 11 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.), 5 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) and 2 spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) that were found beach-cast along the Omani coastline. Across the three species examined, a total of 4796 fish otoliths and 214 cephalopod beaks were found, representing 36 species in 23 families. No crustacean remains were found. Prey item importance was calculated using the percentage by number (%N), and percentage by frequency of occurrence (%FO) methods, and a modified index of relative importance (IRI). Percentage similarity was also calculated to examine interspecific and intraspecific dietary overlap. All three species of dolphins examined here ate mainly fish. The fish families Apogonidae and Carangidae were the most numerically important prey in the diet of bottlenose dolphins. Sciaenidae was the most numerically important fish family for humpback dolphins. Mesopelagic fishes comprised the diet of spinner dolphins, with the myctophid Benthosema pterotum forming the bulk of the prey items. The cephalopod preys found in the stomach samples were represented by the families Sepiidae, Loliginidae and Onychoteuthidae. The frequency distribution of prey items indicate that the bottlenose dolphins fed in a wide variety of habitats, and may reflect the occurrence of at least two species or ecotypes of Tursiops in Oman. The humpback dolphin prey items indicate feeding in coastal, nearshore areas with soft substrate. Spinner dolphins appeared to feed in the upper 200m of the water column on nocturnal vertically migrating prey. Although most of the prey species do not appear to be of commercial importance, the findings of this study indicated that all three species of dolphins were feeding in areas where fishing occurs and this is likely to have conservation implications. },

keywords = {bottlenose dolphin, bottlenose dolphins, cephalopod, cetacean, cetaceans, conservation, diet, Distribution, dolphin, dolphins, ecology, feeding, feeding ecology, fish, habitat, humpback dolphins, occurrence, Oman, prey, Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, stomach contents, survey, tursiops},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{,

title = {Distribution, abundance, and feeding ecology of decapods in the Arabian Sea, with implications for vertical flux},

author = {Mincks,S.L.,Bollens,S.M.,Madin,L.P.,Horgan,E.,Butler,M.,Kremer,P.M.,Craddock,J.E.},

year  = {2000},

date = {2000-01-01},

journal = {Deep-Sea Research Part II},

volume = {47},

number = {158},

pages = {1475-1516},

abstract = {Macrozooplankton and micronekton samples were collected on two cruises in the Arabian Sea conducted during the Spring Intermonsoon period (May) and the SW Monsoon period (August) of 1995. Discrete depth samples were collected down to depths of 1000-1500 m. Quantitative gut content analyses were performed on four species of decapod shrimps, Gennadas sordidus, Sergia filictum, Sergia creber, and Eupasiphae gilesii, as well as on the pelagic crab Charybdis smithii. Of the shrimps, only S. filictum and S. creber increased significantly in abundance between the Spring Intermonsoon and SW Monsoon seasons. These four species were found at all depths sampled, and most did not appear to be strong vertical migrators. G. sordidus and S. filictum did appear to spread upward at night, especially during the SW Monsoon, but this movement did not include the entire population. S. creber showed signs of diel vertical migration only in some areas. All four shrimp species except, to some degree, S. creber lived almost exclusively within the oxygen minimum zone(150-1000 m), and are likely to have respiratory adaptations that allow them to persist under such conditions. Feeding occurred at all depths throughout these species' ranges, but only modest feeding occurred in the surface layer (0-150 m). G. sordidus appeared to feed continuously throughout the day and night. Estimated contribution of fecal material to vertical flux ranged from < 0.01-2.1% of particulate flux at 1000 m for the shrimps and 1.8-3.0% for C. smithii. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. .},

keywords = {abundance, Arabian Sea, depth, Distribution, ecology, feeding ecology, migration, oxygen minimum, population, zooplankton},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{,

title = {Feeding ecology of the copepod},

author = {Gowing,M.M.,Wishner,K.F.},

year  = {1998},

date = {1998-01-01},

journal = {Deep-Sea Research Part II},

volume = {45 },

number = {105},

pages = {2433},

abstract = {Feeding ecology of the calanoid copepod Lucicutia aff. L. grandis collected in the Arabian Sea at one station during the Spring Intermonsoon and during the Southwest Monsoon of 1995 was studied with transmission electron microscopy of gut-contents. Highest abundances of these animals occurred from 400 to 1100 m, near the lower interface of the oxygen minimum zone and at the inflection point where oxygen starts to increase. We expected that their gut-contents would include particles and cells that had sunk relatively undegraded from surface waters as well as those from within the oxygen minimum zone, and that gut-contents would differ between the Spring Intermonsoon and the more productive SW Monsoon. Overall, in both seasons Lucicutia aff. L. grandis was omnivorous, and consumed a variety of detrital particles, prokaryotic and eukaryotic autotrophs, gram-negative bacteria including metal-precipitating bacteria, aggregates of probable gram-positive bacteria, microheterotrophs, virus-like particles and large virus-like particles, as well as cuticle and cnidarian tissue. Few significant differences in types of food consumed were seen among life stages within or among various depth zones. Amorphous, unidentifiable material was significantly more abundant in guts during the Spring Intermonsoon than during the late SW Monsoon, and recognizable cells made up a significantly higher portion of gut-contents during the late SW Monsoon. This is consistent with the Intermonsoon as a time when organic material is considerably re-worked by the surface water microbial loop before leaving the euphotic zone. In both seasons Lucicutia aff. L. grandis had consumed what appeared to be aggregates of probable gram-positive bacteria, similar to those we had previously found in gut-contents of several species of zooplankton from the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern tropical Pacific. By intercepting sinking material, populations of Lucicutia aff. L. grandis act as a filter for carbon sinking to the sea floor. They also},

keywords = {abundance, Arabian Sea, depth, eastern tropical Pacific, ecology, feeding ecology, oxygen minimum, population, populations, zooplankton},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}