The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Harmony Point,Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands

The diet of non-breeding male Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) w as investigated at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, by the analysis of LX and 33 seats collected during February 1996 and 1997 re spectively. Overall, fish were the most frequent prey (74.5%) and predomina ted by mass (54.4%), whereas krill predominated by number (94.2%). This coi ncides well with the pattern observed in 1997, but in 1996 krill was the mo st important prey by number and mass (50.2%). The importance of the remaini ng taxa represented in the samples (octopods, hyperiids and bivalves) was n egligible. Among fish, myctophids represented 85.2% of the fish mass, with Gymnoscopelus nicholsi and Electrona antarctica being the main prey. These two species predominated in 1997, whereas the channichthyid Cryodraco antar cticus and the nototheniid Gobionotothen gibberifrons were dominant in 1996 . The importance of the myctophids as prey of the Antarctic fur seal is dis cussed.