ORIGINAL PAPER J.C. Xavier ® P.G. Rodhouse ® M.G. Purves T.M. Daw ® J. Arata ® G.M. Pilling Distribution of cephalopods recorded in the diet of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) around South Georgia Accepted: 5 November 2001 / Published online: 11 December 2001 Ó Springer-Verlag 2001 Abstract The cephalopod component of the diet of Patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides, around South Georgia was analysed from stomach contents collected between March and May 2000. Cephalopods occurred in 7% of D. eleginoides stomachs. A total of 363 cephalopod beaks were found, comprising 16 cephalopodspecies,ofwhich15hadnotbeenpreviously recordedinthediet.OctopodidA(probably Pareledone turqueti) was the most important cephalopod species by number of lower beaks (36 beaks; 20.2% of the lower beaks) and Kondakovia longimana was the most impor- tantintermsofestimatedmass(76%ofthecephalopod component). When the cephalopod component of D. eleginoides was compared with other predators between March and May 2000, D. eleginoides fed more on octopods (25% of the lower beaks) than black-bro- wed and grey-headed albatrosses (<1% of the lower beaks).Thelowfrequencyofthesquid Martialia hyadesi in the diet of D. eleginoides around South Georgia was alsonoticedinthedietofalbatrosses,andsuggeststhat M. hyadesi was not present in these waters in 2000 (probablyduetomigratorymovementsorreproduction failure), despite being a candidate for commercial ex- ploitation. The presence of the squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni in the diet of D. eleginoides and being caught by a longline hook whilst presumably feeding on D. eleginoides, may indicate that juveniles of Mesonycho- teuthis hamiltoni are prey of D. eleginoides adults, and when Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni reach a large size as adults, they become the predator. Introduction There is substantial potential for using data on cepha- lopods eaten by higher predators to provide unique in- formation on the ecology and status of cephalopod resources that have not been subject to a commercial fishery (Cherel and Weimerskirch 1995; Croxall and Prince 1996; Rodhouse et al. 1996; Cherel and Weimerskirch 1999). The Patagonian toothfish [Dissostichus eleginoides (Smitt 1898)] is a member of the sub-order Notothe- nioidei, the most abundant fish group in terms of numbers and biomass in the Southern Ocean (Eastman 1993).ItisfoundnorthandsouthoftheAntarcticPolar Front on all shelves and submarine plateaux in the At- lantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans (Eastman 1993). The species is subject to commercial exploitation around South Georgia (54°S 38°W). This species has been re- corded to grow to 2.15 m and can weigh up to 95 kg (Kock 1985; Pshenichnov 1996). Juveniles are pelagic while adults are known to be demersal, living in deep waters and feeding on benthic organisms (McKenna 1991; Garcia et al. 1997). D. eleginoides feeds primarily onfishandsecondarilyoncrustaceansandcephalopods. Other invertebrates such as sponges, ctenophores, cnidarians, nemertines, nematodes, bivalves, pycnog- nids, cumaceans, tanaidaceans, bryozoans and echino- derms represent <1% of the diet (Tarverdiyeva 1972; Polar Biol (2002) 25: 323–330 DOI 10.1007/s00300-001-0343-x J.C. Xavier (&) ® P.G. Rodhouse British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK E-mail: JCCX@bas.ac.uk J.C. Xavier University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology, Downing Street, CB2 3EJ, Cambridge, UK M.G. Purves ® T.M. Daw ® G.M. Pilling MRAG Ltd, 47 Price’s Gate, London, SW7 2QA, UK J. Arata Instituto de Oceanologı´a, Universidad de Valparaı´so, Casilla 13-D, Vin˜a del Mar, V Regio´n, Chile Present address: G.M. Pilling CEFAS, Lowestoft laboratory, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 OHT, UK