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Group foraging increases foraging efficiency in a piscivorous diver, the African penguin
Alistair M McInnes1, Cuan McGeorge2, Samuel Ginsberg3
1DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Summerstrand 6031, South Africa.
Royal Society Open Science
|October 10, 2017
Summary
African penguins improve foraging efficiency by herding schooling fish during dives, especially when hunting in groups. This specialist strategy, however, makes them vulnerable to declining fish stocks and reduced group sizes.
Area of Science:
- Marine biology
- Animal behavior
- Ecology
Background:
- Marine piscivores, including penguins, exhibit adaptations like group foraging for efficiency.
- Empirical evidence for improved foraging in penguins associating at sea is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hunting strategies and foraging performance of African penguins.
- To determine if group foraging enhances hunting success in this species.
Main Methods:
- Utilized animal-borne video recorders on breeding African penguins.
- Analyzed individual and group foraging behaviors targeting schooling and solitary fish.
Main Results:
- African penguins employ group foraging, herding fish schools during dives for optimal catches.
- Catch-per-unit-effort significantly increased when targeting fish schools, particularly in groups.
- Observed specialist hunting strategies linked to reliance on schooling pelagic fish.
Conclusions:
- African penguins exhibit specialized foraging, benefiting from group hunting of schooling fish.
- Their survival may be threatened by Allee effects impacting group size and diminishing fish stocks due to environmental changes.
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