Fish prey of Antarctic for seals Arctocephalus gazella at Ile de Croy, Kerguelen

The composition of Antarctic fur seal prey was assessed through analysis of seats collected in March 1994 on Ile de Croy, Iles Nuageuses. Fish remains predominated in samples, occurring in 95% of droppings. A total of 968 otoliths allowed the identification of 16 fish species. Myctophid fish (12 species) dominated the diet both by number (94% of the otoliths) and by fish reconstituted mass (76%). Three fish species constituted together 87% of the reconstituted mass: the myctophids Gymnoscopelus nicholsi (52%) and G. piabilis (12%), and the channichthyid Champsocephalus gunnari (23%). Prey distribution suggests that during late summer seals forage in upper slope waters in the northeast of the Kerguelen Archipelago.