Whale sharks target dense prey patches of sergestid shrimp off Tanzania
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J. Plankton Res.-2015-Rohner-plankt_fbv010.pdf
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ArticleAuthors
Rohner, C. A.Armstrong, A. J.
Pierce, S. J.
Prebble, C. E. M.
Cagua, Edgar F.

Cochran, Jesse
Berumen, Michael L.

Richardson, A. J.
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEntrepreneurship Center
Marine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Reef Ecology Lab
Date
2015-03-17Online Publication Date
2015-03-17Print Publication Date
2015-03-01Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/346997
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Large planktivores require high-density prey patches to make feeding energetically viable. This is a major challenge for species living in tropical and subtropical seas, such as whale sharks Rhincodon typus. Here, we characterize zooplankton biomass, size structure and taxonomic composition from whale shark feeding events and background samples at Mafia Island, Tanzania. The majority of whale sharks were feeding (73%, 380 of 524 observations), with the most common behaviour being active surface feeding (87%). We used 20 samples collected from immediately adjacent to feeding sharks and an additional 202 background samples for comparison to show that plankton biomass was ∼10 times higher in patches where whale sharks were feeding (25 vs. 2.6 mg m-3). Taxonomic analyses of samples showed that the large sergestid Lucifer hanseni (∼10 mm) dominated while sharks were feeding, accounting for ∼50% of identified items, while copepods (<2 mm) dominated background samples. The size structure was skewed towards larger animals representative of L.hanseni in feeding samples. Thus, whale sharks at Mafia Island target patches of dense, large, zooplankton dominated by sergestids. Large planktivores, such as whale sharks, which generally inhabit warm oligotrophic waters, aggregate in areas where they can feed on dense prey to obtain sufficient energy. © 2015 © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.Citation
Whale sharks target dense prey patches of sergestid shrimp off Tanzania 2015 Journal of Plankton ResearchPublisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)Journal
Journal of Plankton ResearchPubMed ID
25814777PubMed Central ID
PMC4371762Additional Links
http://www.plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/doi/10.1093/plankt/fbv010ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/plankt/fbv010
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