Diet of long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) in the East Sea, Korea

The long-beaked common dolphin is one of the most abundant cetaceans in Korean waters, and their population has been estimated to comprise of more than 35,000 individuals. Delphinus capensis generally appear close to the coast and primarily feed on epipelagic small fishes and cephalopods. Thirty long-beaked common dolphins were collected from the East Sea from February to September in 2012. For stomach content analysis (SCA), the fresh prey items were identified to their lowest taxonomic level, and unidentified preys due to digestion were identified using remnants such as fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks. Fatty acid (FA) patterns of 20 dolphins from the inner layer of blubber were compared with those in samples of prey items. Enoploteuthis chunii was the dominant prey in SCA, representing 55.8% by number and 75.9% by occurrence. Common squid (Todarodes pacificus) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were the next major preys at more than 80% occurrence. Even though a distinctive difference was not obse...