Publication Date:
2021-06-28
Description:
The diet of bottlenose dolphins in southeast Asia is poorly known. Two forms of bottlenose dolphins occur off Hong Kong; an inshore form (aduncus-type) and an offshore form (truncatus-type), which differ in total length and other morphological features. We examined the stomach contents of four offshore bottlenose dolphins stranded between 1994 and 1997. Nine species of fish (of nine families) andthree species of cephalopods (of three families) were identified as prey. These species are found in neriticand pelagic habitats, and represent both surface-dwellers as well as demersal inhabitants. Whereas some prey species may be found close to shore, others extend their distribution into deeper waters, suggesting that the dolphins may have also fed ininshore waters in the process of stranding. Although sample sizes are small, little competitionwith other cetacean species found around HongKong (Indo–Pacific humpback dolphins and finlessporpoises) is suspected, as few prey species wereshared by these dolphins.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
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