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1.
During November 1978, Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis at Mercury Island, off South West Africa (Namibia), consumed practically exclusively pelagic gobies Sufflogobius bibarbalus. The mean number of fish per regurgitation was 52 with a mean caudal length of 48 mm and an estimated mean mass of 1.7 g. The estimated mean original mass of stomach contents was 75 g. These Cape cormorants took significantly smaller pelagic gobies than did bank cormorants P. neglectus sampled concurrently at the same locality.  相似文献   

2.
Numbers of Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis breeding in South Africa decreased by nearly 50% from approximately 107 000 pairs in 1977–1981 to 57 000 pairs in 2010–2014. Although four colonies had >10 000 pairs in 1977–1981, there was just one such colony in 2010–2014. Almost all the decrease occurred after the early 1990s off north-west South Africa, between the Orange River estuary and Dassen Island. South of this, the number breeding in the two periods was stable, with some colonies being formed or growing rapidly in the 2000s. The proportion of South Africa’s Cape cormorants that bred south of Dassen Island increased from 35% in 1977–1981 to 66% in 2010–2014, with the opposite situation observed in the north-west. This matched a shift to the south and east in the distributions of two of the Cape cormorant’s main prey species, anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and sardine Sardinops sagax. In 2014, an apparent scarcity of prey in the north-west resulted in Cape cormorants attempting to take bait from hooks of fishing lines over an extended period, a behaviour not previously recorded. The number of Cape cormorants breeding in the south may be constrained by the absence of large islands between Dyer Island in the west and Algoa Bay in the east. If so, it may be possible to bolster the southern population through the provision of appropriate breeding habitat, such as platforms, or restricting human disturbance at suitable mainland cliff breeding sites.  相似文献   

3.
Once one of the most numerous seabirds of the Benguela upwelling system, the population of Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis has decreased by 60% in the past three decades and the species is listed as Near Threatened. Declines in prey availability and/or abundance brought about by recent changes in the distribution of pelagic fish stocks and industrial purse-seine fishing are hypothesised to be a key driver of seabird population decreases in the southern Benguela. We investigated the foraging behaviour of breeding Cape cormorants by deploying GPS and temperature–depth recorders on 24 breeding adults from three islands off the coast of South Africa, two of them to the north of Cape Point and a third farther south on the western Agulhas Bank. This provided the first measures of foraging dispersal by a cormorant in the Benguela system, and enabled a comparison of foraging behaviour between birds from these islands. Foraging trips of Cape cormorants lasted between 17 min and >7 h, at a maximum distance of between 2 and 58 km away from their colony. Foraging effort was significantly greater for birds from farther north off the West Coast in terms of trip duration, distance travelled, number of dives and time spent flying compared to those from the southernmost island (Dyer), which is probably a response to low prey availability in the north. Coastal reserves that exclude pelagic fishing from inshore feeding grounds around Cape cormorant breeding colonies may result in increased local prey availability, which would benefit Cape cormorant populations.  相似文献   

4.
Many top predators in the Benguela ecosystem feed on prey species targeted by commercial fisheries. Their roles as indicators of the state of exploited prey resources, as competitors with commercial fisheries for resources, and as susceptible to impact from commercial fishing on those resources are briefly considered. Trends in the occurrence of anchovy Engraulis capensis and pilchard Sardinops ocellatus in the diet of Cape gannets Morus capensis off South Africa's west coast are related significantly to survey estimates of the abundance of these fish species, and they provide useful confirmation of those estimates. In the 1980s, anchovy decreased in the diet of Cape gannets, but pilchard increased. In both the northern and southern portions of the Benguela system, groundfish were thought to eat most (66–73%) of the total quantity of cephalopods and vertebrates consumed by predators and man in the 1980s. South African fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, predatory pelagic fish and man removed roughly equal amounts, with squids, seabirds and cetaceans having a smaller impact. In the 1980s, man and seals removed about two million tons live mass more than in 1930. Indices of the rate of natural mortality of anchovy and pilchard attributable to Cape gannets are not related to biomass of the prey species. That for anchovy was high in 1989 when a poor anchovy year-class was formed. Decreased abundance of anchovy led to poor breeding by Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis in 1989 and 1990. A model linking the Cape cormorant population with anchovy is used to explore the impact of possible exploitation strategies for anchovy on Cape cormorants.  相似文献   

5.
The Cape gannet is endemic to the southern African coast where it currently breeds at six islands: Mercury, Ichaboe and Possession off South West Africa and Bird (Lambert's Bay), Malgas and Bird (Algoa Bay) off South Africa. Previously, breeding also occurred at Hollams Bird, Halifax and Seal (False Bay) Islands. Equivocal records for Marcus, Dassen and Dyer Islands are not accepted. Off South West Africa, gannets were breeding at Hollams Bird, Mercury and Ichaboe Islands at least as early as 1828, but they only occupied Halifax and Possession Islands sometime between that date and c. 1885, possibly as a result of displacement of gannets from Ichaboe Island during exploitation of accumulated guano deposits in the early 1840s. Gannets bred at Hollams Bird Island until at least 1938, but had ceased breeding at Halifax Island by 1928. Off South Africa the earliest records of breeding are 1648, 1687, 1755 and 1912 for Malgas, Seal (False Bay), Bird (Port Elizabeth) and Bird (Lambert's Bay) Islands respectively. Gannets have not been reported at Seal Island since the late 17th century. On the west coast of Africa the Cape gannet is a regular nonbreeding winter visitor as far north as 4°20′N 6°00′E, but west of 6°E it is rare. On the east coast of Africa it is a common winter visitor as far north as Delagoa Bay, but farther north it is rare. Within its normal range the Cape gannet seldom occurs farther off shore than 100 km; it hardly ever moves inland. Aerial censuses of Cape gannets at breeding islands in 1967, 1969, 1978, 1980 and 1981 are compared with an aerial census conducted in 1956 and other published estimates of abundance. Between 1956 and 1980 the estimated number of breeding pairs at all colonies decreased from c. 150 000 to c. 80 000 and numbers decreased at all three extant gannetries off South West Africa. These decreases are attributed to a greatly diminished food resource following the collapse of the South West African pilchard stock after the late 1960s. The number of gannets decreased at Bird (Lambert's Bay) and Malgas Islands between 1956 and the late 1960s but subsequently increased, trends that are related to performances of the Western Cape pilchard and anchovy resources respectively. At Bird Island (Algoa Bay) gannets were up to 3,5 times more abundant in the late 1970s than in 1956. Other marine resources located east of Cape Point have shown similar large increases in recent years. Rates of increase of gannets at islands off South Africa during the 1970s would have required an unrealistically high survival for the first year had other population parameters remained constant. It is possible that birds emigrated from the South West African Islands. Few gannets have been reported oiled, and conservation of the species seems to be mainly affected by greatly reduced prey availability and injudicious guano harvesting. Human exploitation of juvenile gannets off the West African coast is difficult to assess.  相似文献   

6.
During 2008–2012, the number of crowned cormorants Phalacrocorax coronatus breeding in South Africa was c. 1 900 pairs, compared to 1 700 pairs for 1977–1981. Numbers at 10 islands in the Western Cape province fluctuated around a level of 1 100 pairs from 1991/1992 to 2011/2012, 300 more than from 1978/1979 to 1990/1991. These increases are attributable to the discovery of more colonies and an increased frequency of counting at the 10 islands after 1990/1991. The overall number of crowned cormorants breeding in South Africa is thought stable in the long term. Crowned cormorants feed mainly on small, inshore fish species that are not harvested by humans. Clinidae dominated the diet at 10 colonies adjoining the open sea, whereas Gobiidae contributed most food of birds at three colonies in a lagoon. The stability of the crowned cormorant population contrasts with decreases of some other seabirds endemic to southern Africa that feed primarily on prey that is exploited by fisheries. The crowned cormorant population decreased in the Northern Cape and small numbers initiated breeding at colonies to the east of Cape Agulhas at the turn of the century, but most of the population continues to breed to the west of Cape Agulhas. In some instances the availability of suitable breeding habitat may limit numbers breeding.  相似文献   

7.
Juveniles of the Cape white seabream Diplodus capensis were observed cleaning adult conspecifics in a large tidepool off Sodwana Bay, South Africa. Although nine other tropical fish species were present and interacted with a nearby pair of Labroides cleaner wrasses, only adults of D. capensis posed for and were cleaned by the D. capensis juveniles. Such cleaning interactions have not been reported previously for this species or among marine fishes off South Africa, and thus add to the growing list of facultative cleaners globally.  相似文献   

8.
Although the size distribution of larvae and early juveniles of the saury Scomberesox saurus scombroides in continental shelf waters off the Cape Province, South Africa, is consistent with a south-north passive dispersal by known currents, the size of late juveniles and adults increases from north-west to south-east. Occurrence of these stages is highly seasonal: they are found in summer off the Western Cape and mainly from late summer to winter in Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape, possibly reflecting longitudinal migration. Large numbers of late juveniles and adults are often found downstream of upwelling plumes off the Western Cape when warmer waters lie close inshore. They are sometimes taken in purse-seines in association with adult round herring Etrumeus whiteheadi and pilchard Sardinops ocellatus. Important predators of late juvenile and adult saury are fast-moving, surface-feeding species: yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares, Cape gannet Morus capensis and Cory's shearwater Calonectris diomedea. Cape gannets consume an estimated 2 277–6 044 tons of saury annually in South African waters. Predator diets provide important time-series of occurrence, abundance and length-frequency distributions of late juvenile and adult saury.  相似文献   

9.
White-breasted cormorants Phalacrocorax [carbo] lucidus breed around South Africa's coast and at inland localities. Along the coasts of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces, numbers breeding were similar during the periods 1977–1981 (1 116 pairs at 41 localities) and 2008–2012 (1 280 pairs at 41 localities). Along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal (not counted in 1977–1981), 197 pairs bred at nine localities in 2008–2012, when the overall number breeding around South Africa's coastline was about 1 477 pairs. Between the two study periods, numbers decreased in the Northern and Western Cape provinces following the loss of several breeding localities, but they increased in the Eastern Cape. In the Western Cape, however, numbers were stable east of Cape Agulhas and at nine well-monitored West Coast localities that were surveyed from 1978 to 2012. White-breasted cormorants breed throughout the year, with breeding at some localities more seasonal than at others and the timing of peaks in breeding varying at and between localities. In the vicinity of Saldanha Bay/Langebaan Lagoon (Western Cape), in Algoa Bay (Eastern Cape) and in northern KwaZulu-Natal, it is likely that birds moved between breeding localities in different years, although breeding often occurred at the same locality over several years. Human disturbance, presence of predators, competition for breeding space and occurrence of breeding by other waterbirds may influence movements between colonies. Securing sufficient good habitat at which white-breasted cormorants may breed will be important for conservation of the species. The species may breed at an age of 4 years, possibly younger. The bulk of their diet around South Africa's coast consists of inshore marine and estuarine fish species that are not intensively exploited by humans.  相似文献   

10.
Seasonal and short-term variability of environmental parameters influence the spawning strategies of fish species. In this study, the spawning strategies and the transport of early stages of the two Cape hake species off South Africa were investigated. Distribution of eggs and larvae of Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis was analysed in order to derive more detailed and species-specific information on spawning season, spawning location, and transport of early stages. Samples were collected during three pilot surveys between January and October 2007 and during an extensive survey in September/October 2008 in the southern Benguela upwelling system off South Africa. Eggs and larvae of M. paradoxus were found in greater numbers than those of M. capensis during all surveys. Highest abundances were found from September to October, indicating one spawning peak for M. paradoxus during late austral winter to spring. The western Agulhas Bank was identified as the primary spawning ground, and smaller spawning events occurred on the West Coast. Larvae of both species were mainly distributed in subsurface waters between 25 and 100 m. More than 50% of all larvae caught had a total length between 3 and 4 mm and size increased significantly with decreasing latitude. Merluccius capensis were found closer inshore than M. paradoxus, indicating that early stages of the two species followed separate drift routes. We assume that this distribution pattern most likely evolved from differences in spawning location and phenology. The spawning strategies of M. paradoxus and M. capensis are well adapted to a time-frame of optimal transport conditions favourable for larval survival in the highly variable environment of the southern Benguela upwelling system, but the peak spawning of the two species is separated in time and space.  相似文献   

11.
Kingklip Genypterus capensis inhabit deep continental shelf and slope waters off southern Africa and are now largely harvested as a bycatch in trawl and longline fisheries for Cape hakes Merluccius spp. Regional differences in growth, vertebral count and otolith morphology indicate that kingklip may consist of three stocks. In this study, allozyme markers are used to test whether the two southern stocks, the putative Cape and South Coast stocks, are genetically distinguishable. Standard electrophoretic methods detected Mendelian polymorphisms at six (23%) of 26 enzyme-encoding loci in five samples extending from about 29°S on the West Coast to about 25°E on the South Coast. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg proportions were observed in the samples or in the pooled sample. Gene diversities (heterozygosity) ranged from HS = 0.039 to 0.042 among samples, and averaged 0.041. Genetic differentiation among localities was remarkably small, FST = 0.003, and did not differ significantly from zero. A Bayesian analysis of population structure, based on detecting departures from Hardy-Weinberg proportions and gametic phase equilibria between loci, indicated with a high likelihood that the five samples were drawn from a single genetic population. In combination, these results are consistent with the occurrence of a single population off South Africa. However, the most conservative management strategy is to set harvest quotas individually on the Cape and South Coast stocks.  相似文献   

12.
Information on hake stomach contents collected during research cruises off the west coast of South Africa between 1988 and 1990 is analysed. Estimates of the annual consumption and daily ration of the Cape hakes Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus are obtained. Coefficients of variation (CVs) for these estimates are estimated by a bootstrap variance-estimation procedure. Cape hakes are opportunistic feeders. Juveniles feed mainly on crustaceans and the diet becomes increasingly piscivorous with age. Anchovy were the dominant dietary item of juvenile M. capensis, although this may be a reflection of the fact that anchovy were readily available at the time of the surveys. The large number of anchovy found in the diet during this study highlights the dangers of extrapolating consumption estimates for opportunistic feeders to other time periods. Pooling of data across geographic and seasonal strata introduces substantial bias in estimates of consumption and daily ration for only the pelagic prey species. Estimates of annual consumption are highly sensitive to the cruise selected to provide the estimates of numbers-at-length, because these latter estimates vary substantially between cruises. Furthermore, estimates of annual consumption and daily ration by prey species are very imprecise due to the effects of small sample sizes, the opportunistic nature of and natural variability associated with feeding. This implies that it is unlikely that model-estimation procedures which utilize these data will be able to provide particularly precise predictions. Therefore, before any larger-scale stomach collection exercise is undertaken, it is advisable to perform simulation studies to assess the sampling intensity required to achieve the desired levels of accuracy and precision for predictions from multispecies model-estimation procedures which make use of such data.  相似文献   

13.
The distribution patterns of saury eggs, larvae and early juveniles have been investigated over the continental shelf off the South-Western Cape from August 1977 to August 1978. Young saury tend to occupy water of 18°C or warmer in all seasons and are found offshore of the Benguela oceanic front when inshore upwelling is evident. Their distribution in the region appears to be linked to seasonal hydrography. Spawning in the study area occurs mainly between Cape Columbine and Cape Point, and to a lesser extent east of Cape Point. The ratio of large larvae and early juveniles to small larvae is greater off the West Coast than off the South Coast. Most spawning appears to take place in summer, with a peak abundance of larvae and early juveniles towards the end of this season. Instantaneous natural mortality was calculated: 5 – 30 mm, Z = 0,14·day?1; 30 – 100 mm, Z = 0,02·day?1. There is therefore a marked but unexplained decline in mortality shortly after the transition from the larval to the juvenile phase.  相似文献   

14.
In this study demersal survey data for the period 1990–1999 are used to investigate the average distribution of the Cape hake Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus off Namibia in terms of density and mean length. Further, biomass estimates are compared on the basis of depth and density stratification. The main distribution of M. capensis was north of 27°S and that of M. paradoxus south of 24°S. M. paradoxus was deeper than M. capensis. For both species, average length increased with depth. M. paradoxus expanded its range to the north through the 1990s as its population size (off South Africa and Namibia) increased. In Namibian waters, small M. paradoxus were found only south of 25°S. Mean length of M. capensis increased north of 21°S, largely as a result of decreased numbers of small fish in shallower water. Abundance estimates stratified by depth were no different from those post-stratified on similar densities.  相似文献   

15.
There was a marked decrease in abundance of anchovy Engraulis capensis off South Africa between November 1988 and November 1990 caused by formation of poor year-classes in 1989 and 1990. The percentage of anchovy in the diet of Cape gannets Morus capensis indicated that the most marked decrease in anchovy biomass was between June and July 1989. A filament from the Benguela upwelling front was in the process of being entrained by a passing ring of Agulhas Current water at that time. The ring extracted a large volume of frontal water over a period of 2–3 months, prevented its return to the shelf region and possibly removed anchovy larvae and pre-recruits from the Benguela system. It may have played a role in depressing the 1989 anchovy year-class, and hence the 1989 recruit biomass.  相似文献   

16.
Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus were estimated to kill some 6 000 Cape gannet Morus capensis fledglings around Malgas Island in the 2000/01 breeding season, 11 000 in 2003/04 and 10 000 in 2005/06. This amounted to about 29%, 83% and 57% of the overall production of fledglings at the island in these breeding seasons respectively. Preliminary modelling suggests this predation is not sustainable. There was a 25% reduction in the size of the colony, the second largest of only six extant Cape gannet colonies, between 2001/02 and 2005/06. There has been a large increase in predation by Cape fur seals on seabirds around southern African islands since the mid-1980s, coincidental with both an increase in the seal population, altered management of the islands and an altered distribution of prey for gannets and seals. At Malgas Island, most gannet fledglings were killed between 10:00 and 18:00, the period when most are in the water around the island, from mid-January to mid-March, the main fledging period. The Cape gannet is classified as Vulnerable.  相似文献   

17.
Seasonal fluctuations in the occurrence of inshore South African Bryde's whales Balaenoptera edeni were investigated between November 2005 and June 2008. Sighting data were collected in Plettenberg Bay on the south-east coast of South Africa. Bryde's whale occurrence was modelled in relation to the following environmental covariates: sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentrations and wind speed. Seasonal increases in encounter rates (sightings per day) were observed during summer and autumn, with a peak in April that corresponded to increased feeding activity and above average aggregation sizes. All three environmental covariates were significant factors in terms of explaining variability in the occurrence of whales. Multispecies associations with common dolphins Delphinus capensis and Cape gannets Morus capensis were most common in summer and autumn, when feeding activity was highest.  相似文献   

18.
The food habits of five species of eels and one species of spiny eel collected from the upper continental slope off the Cape west coast and Agulhas Bank, South Africa, are described. All a re embers of a defined demersal micro- or mesocarnivore feeding guild except Simenchelys parasitica, a scavenger. Two congrids, Bassanago albescens and Gnathophis capensis and the spiny eel Notacanthus sexspinis usually employ the demersal grazer feeding method and infrequently switch to picking nekton in the water column. Two synaphobranchids, Diastobranchus capensis and Synaphobranchus kaupii, are chiefly demersal mesocarnivores that stalk prey, but also pick nekton and scavenge. A significant amount of the prey ofthe three large eels, B. albescens and the two synaphobranchids, consisted mainly of mesopelagic stomiiform, myctophid and juvenile gadiform fish, penaeid and caridean shrimps and various squid taken at the bathyal/deep-pelagic interface, as was found previously with some grnadiers (Macrouridae. Five categories of fleshy remains are documented for the scavenging Simenchelys parasitica for the first time.  相似文献   

19.
Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus were harvested to extirpation on the Robberg Peninsula, Plettenberg Bay, on the south-east coast of South Africa, between the 17th and early 20th centuries. Seals returned to Robberg in small numbers during the early 1990s and their numbers subsequently increased. We studied the diet of this increasing population using faecal (scat) sampling to determine: the species composition and size of prey in the diet of Cape fur seals at Robberg; to explore temporal variation in the diet; and to investigate the potential for competition between seals and the fisheries around Plettenberg Bay. Of the 445 scats collected, 90% contained hard prey remains and 15 teleost prey species were represented in the 3 127 otoliths that could be identified. The seals’ most important prey species in terms of numerical abundance, frequency of occurrence and mass in the diet, were anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus, sardine Sardinops sagax, horse mackerel Trachurus capensis, sand tongue-fish Cynoglossus capensis and shallow-water hake Merluccius capensis (in decreasing order of importance for numerical abundance). The proportion of anchovy in the diet increased during the study period (2003–2008), whereas the proportion of sardine decreased. The estimated average annual consumption of sardine by seals was higher than the average annual catch made by purse-seine fisheries in this area, suggesting resource competition between seals and purse-seiners, especially in the light of continuing growth of seal numbers in the area. However, direct competition between seals and linefisheries appeared to be minimal. Scat sampling of Cape fur seals holds potential to serve a useful and cost effective indicator of temporal changes in sardine abundance.  相似文献   

20.
This paper gives an overview of the main living marine resources of Namibia. It focuses on the scientific research conducted during the past decade as input to the management of these resources. The distribution and habitats of the most important harvested species and the main seabird populations are briefly described and discussed. The life histories of the major exploited species are summarized, with emphasis on spatial and temporal spawning patterns, dispersal of early life stages, migration patterns of recruits and adults, and diet, the latter particularly as it relates to potential competition between species. A number of commercially important species, such as the hake Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus, deep-sea red crab Chaceon maritae, West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii, skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis, southern albacore Thunnus alalunga and to a lesser extent Cape horse mackerel Trachurus capensis, southern African sardine Sardinops sagax and Cape anchovy Engraulis capensis, are distributed across national boundaries, requiring regional cooperation in research and management. The history and current status of the major fisheries is discussed. Over the past 30–40 years total annual catches have declined from a peak of around 2 million tons in the late 1960s to less than a million tons in the 1990s. This decline has been due, mainly, to a collapse in the sardine stock in the late 1960s and 1970s, and a reduction in the catches of hake and horse mackerel under a conservative management strategy in the past decade. Changes in the abundance and distribution of commercially important species, as determined by acoustic and trawl surveys and catch-based analytical methods, are presented. The effect of major environmental anomalies on the distribution and abundance of the resources in recent years is discussed. The most dramatic anomaly in recent years was the wide-scale advection of low-oxygen water into the northern Benguela from the Angola Dome in 1994, and the subsequent Benguela Niño of 1995, which appear to have severely impacted the Namibian sardine population and many other resources. The present socio-economic value of the Namibian fishing industry is given together with the broad policy, legislation and formal structures for managing the living marine resources.  相似文献   

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