Cephalopod diet of the southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands

In the summer of 1995/96, 25 southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, wer e stomach lavaged at Stranger Point, King George Island, South Shetland Isl ands. Cephalopod remains were present in 72% of the individuals sampled (n = 18). Seven species of squid and three of octopus were identified. The squ id Psychroteuthis glacialis was the most important prey in terms of numbers (77%), biomass (80.8%) and frequency of occurrence (94.4%). Next in import ance in terms of mass was the squid Alluroteuthis antarcticus (7.8%) in the diet of females and the octopodid Pareledane ?charcoti in the diet of male s (13.2%), Females preyed on a wider variety of squid taxa than males (7 vs 3) but octopodids occurred only in stomach contents from males. The predom inance of P. glacialis in the prey of the South Shetland Islands elephant s eals can be explained by the southerly location of the foraging areas of th is population compared to South Georgia, Heard and Macquarie islands, where the diet of southern elephant seals has previously been analysed. Psychrot euthis glacialis is the predominant squid in waters close to the Antarctic continent.