Date of Award

Summer 1997

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Gerald F. Levy

Committee Member

Robert K. Rose

Committee Member

Alan H. Savitzky

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 M347

Abstract

I examined the stomach contents from 94 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, that were stranded along the Virginia coastline from 1987 through 1996. Samples from 1987 through 1991 were obtained from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and samples from 1992 through 1996 were collected by the Virginia Marine Science Museum (VMSM) Stranding Team. Prey species were identified using fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks.

The dolphins examined fed on 23 species of fish and one genus of cephalopods. The primary prey species was Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus); secondary species were weakfish (Cynoscion regalia), spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), silver perch (Bairdiella chrysoura), and squid (Doryteeuthis sp). Fish from the Sciaenidae family were found to be dominant in the stomach contents. Seasonally, Atlantic croaker and weakfish were found to be the most important prey species.

Evidence of adverse human interaction, such as gill net entanglement, was not significantly correlated with stomach fullness. This relationship did seem important, however, when compared to the other categories examined. The diet of the dolphins that stranded during the massive epizootic in 1987 was not found to be significantly different from the diets of the dolphins that stranded after this event.

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DOI

10.25777/q1qc-9786

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