Diet
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins feed on a wide variety of fish and cephalopods (particularly squid).
In a recent study conducted by Amir et al. (2005), researchers looked at the feeding ecology of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins by analyzing the stomach contents of ones that got caught in the gillnet fisheries off Zanzibar, Tanzania. The prey items found in the stomach contents included 50 species of bony fish and three species of squid. From their results, the researchers concluded the most important prey group was fish, which accounted for 87% of the total number of prey items consumed and occurred in 24 of 26 stomachs examined. Cephalopods comprised the other 13% of prey items and were found in 13 of the 26 stomachs. The remains of some crustaceans were also found; they hypothesize, however, they were consumed secondarily, since a number were found intact in the fish prey stomachs and therefore were not included in the diet analysis.
Read more about this topic: Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
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