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Food of otters Lutra in a freshwater lough and an adjacent brackish lough in the West of Ireland
Author(s) -
Gormally M. J.,
Fairley J. S.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/jzo.1982.197.3.313
Subject(s) - lutra , salmo , fishery , otter , biology , invertebrate , brackish water , anguillidae , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , zoology , salinity
The food of otters Lutra lutra was investigated around two adjacent loughs in Co. Mayo, Ireland: one freshwater (Lough Feeagh), the other brackish (Lough Furnace), by analysis of monthly collections of faeces from August 1980 to January 1981. Eels, Anguilla anguilla and Salmonidae (species available Salmo salar and S. trutta ) were the most important foods, showing seasonal fluctuations corresponding to their known respective abundances. Sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae) were also important in Lough Furnace. Minor foods included frogs, Rana temporaria, various saltwater fish and aquatic birds. The faeces also yielded a variety of invertebrates, at least some of which were almost certainly from the guts of the fish consumed by the otters.