Diet of Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) in the western Mediterranean Sea
ISSN: 0214-8358
Year of publication: 2006
Volume: 70
Issue: 3
Pages: 407-411
Type: Article
More publications in: Scientia Marina
Sustainable development goals
Abstract
The diet of Risso's dolphin in the Mediterranean is described based on 15 animals stranded between 40°25'N 00°32'W and 37°35'N 00°45'E from April 1987 to January 2003. The prey were mainly oceanic cephalopods. Pelagic octopods, especially A. argo, were the most abundant (mean = 41.28%; SD±34.32). Species belonging to the families Ommastrephidae, Histioteuthidae and Onychoteuthidae were also frequent components of its diet. The bathymetric distribution of cephalopods shows that Risso¿s dolphin preferentially feeds on the middle slope (600 to 800 m depth) in the Mediterranean.