Abstract
Quantifying the energy requirements of animals in nature is critical for understanding physiological, behavioural, and ecosystem ecology; however, for difficult-to-study species such as large sharks, prey intake rates are largely unknown. Here, we use metabolic rates derived from swimming speed estimates to suggest that feeding requirements of the world's largest predatory fish, the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), are several times higher than previously proposed. Further, our estimates of feeding frequency identify a clear benefit in seasonal selection of pinniped colonies - a white shark foraging strategy seen across much of their range.
Highlights
Quantifying the energy requirements of animals in nature is critical for understanding physiological, behavioural, and ecosystem ecology; for difficult-to-study species such as large sharks, prey intake rates are largely unknown
Our estimate of total daily energy expenditure (TDE) suggests white sharks feed far more frequently than previously estimated[12] and does not support the proposal that white sharks could survive at energy balance on 30 kg of marine mammal blubber for 1.5 months (44.1 d)
The mass-specific metabolic rate (MR) estimated by Refs. 12 for a 943 kg white shark was more than 12-times lower than our estimate for smaller (428 6 61 kg, mean 6 s.e.m., n 5 12) sharks (60 versus 723 mg O2 kg[21] h21)
Summary
Quantifying the energy requirements of animals in nature is critical for understanding physiological, behavioural, and ecosystem ecology; for difficult-to-study species such as large sharks, prey intake rates are largely unknown. The only published study of white shark energetics in the wild estimated the field metabolic rate (MR) of a single individual from telemetered muscle temperature data as the individual moved from cold to warm water[12]. The authors used their MR estimates to suggest a 943 kg white shark could survive on 30 kg of marine mammal blubber for approximately 1.5 months; a widely cited figure that has perpetuated the assumption that large sharks only need to feed every few weeks to maintain net energy gain
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