MEPS prepress abstract  -  doi: 10.3354/meps07378

ABSTRACT: Quantitative fatty acid (FA) signature analysis (QFASA) has recently been developed to estimate the species composition of predator diets by statistically comparing FA signatures of predator adipose tissue with that of their potential prey. Captive feeding trials were used to further test the technique with newly-weaned harbour seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi, N = 21). Two groups of seals were fed monotypic diets of either Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) or surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) for 42 days while a third group was fed smelt (21 days) followed by herring (21 days). Blubber biopsies were taken dorsally at day 0, 21 and 42. Specific calibration coefficients (CC) used by QFASA were developed from 4 juvenile harbour seals and in some cases differed by two-fold with previously reported phocid CC. QFASA diet estimates were evaluated using 2 CC sets, 15 FA subsets and a library of 3 – 11 potential prey species. Diet switches were best tracked using the harbour seal CC and the new FA subset. Overall prey misclassifications were apparent (mean = 12%, range = 4 – 25%) when modeled with 8 additional prey not fed, a trend consistent with overlapping prey FA signatures. Blubber FA turnover rates were not strictly linear and in the order of 1.5 – 3 months in newly-weaned animals. Following parameter optimization of the model, QFASA estimates reflected major diet trends in the feeding study, but were sensitive to the CC and FA subsets used as well as to prey species with similar FA signatures. Our results have important implications in the application of QFASA to study pinniped diets in more complex conditions.