Ecology Summary - Tursiops aduncus

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Ecology of Tursiops aduncus

Main Ref.	Rice, D.W., 1998
Remarks	They prefer living on seagrass meadows and rocky substrata (Ref. 114971). Feeds on bony fishes and cephalopods (Ref. 84677). Attacked and preyed upon by tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier (Ref. 104930). This species was reported to display complex prey handling of the benthic-dwelling Maori octopus (Macroctopus maorum), processing its prey by shaking and tossing (Ref. 122728). The same octopus was reported to have asphyxiated an adult male of this species, with the octopus arms protruding from the mouth and the rest of the body blocking the pharynx, larynx and esophagus (Ref. 122729). Occurs in pods of various numbers (Ref. 129713).

Main Ref.

Rice, D.W., 1998

Remarks

They prefer living on seagrass meadows and rocky substrata (Ref. 114971). Feeds on bony fishes and cephalopods (Ref. 84677). Attacked and preyed upon by tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier (Ref. 104930). This species was reported to display complex prey handling of the benthic-dwelling Maori octopus (Macroctopus maorum), processing its prey by shaking and tossing (Ref. 122728). The same octopus was reported to have asphyxiated an adult male of this species, with the octopus arms protruding from the mouth and the rest of the body blocking the pharynx, larynx and esophagus (Ref. 122729). Occurs in pods of various numbers (Ref. 129713).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Tursiops aduncus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Pelagic;
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats
Special habitats Ref.

Associations

Ref.	Rice, D.W., 1998
Associations	parasitism;
Associated with	Giardia spp.; Sarcocystis spp.; Cryptosporidium spp.; Nasitrema spp.; Zalophotrema spp.; Pholeter gastrophilus; Anisakis typica; Capillaria spp.; Diphyllobothrium spp.; Cymothoidae (Ref. 104979).
Association remarks
Parasitism	inside host (Gastro-intestinal (Ref. 104979).)

feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Amir, O.A., P. Berggren, S.G.M. Ndaro and N.S. Jiddawi, 2005
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.	Amir, O.A., P. Berggren, S.G.M. Ndaro and N.S. Jiddawi, 2005

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	original sample		unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition	4.50	0.75			Troph of juv./adults.
From individual food items	4.50	1.05			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Amir, O.A., P. Berggren, S.G.M. Ndaro and N.S. Jiddawi, 2005

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