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The Stomach Contents of A Risso's Dolphin (Grampus Griseus) Stranded at Thurlestone, South Devon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Malcolm R. Clarke
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB
P. L. Pascoe
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB

Extract

Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) (Cuvier, 1812) is not common off the coast of Devon although strandings are occasionally reported. Norman & Fraser (1948) noted that 45 had been stranded on the British coast over a period of 33 years and that these were concentrated in the south-west. While it is regularly stated that this animal eats squids exclusively the prey species have not been identified. In view of the variety of squids available to an oceanic mammal and the information its food can give on both the migration of the dolphin and the ecology of the cephalopods in its diet the stranding of a Risso's dolphin at Thurlestone Rock on 12 May 1983 provided an unusual and welcome opportunity to examine the animal and its food.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1985

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References

REFERENCES

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