From
Wikipedia.
The Raitt's sand eel is a keystone species in the North Sea food web. They are the
prey of a significant number of species including seabirds, marine mammals and
larger fish. Seabirds in particular rely heavily on the Raitt's sand eel to feed their
chicks. When the sand eels leave their burrows to feed seabirds dive into the water
to catch them and then return to their nests. Atlantic puffin, black-legged kittiwake,
common guillemot and razorbills are all known predators of this species.
In the sea many larger fish species prey on the Raitt's sand eel including cod,
haddock, whiting, saithe and mackerel. Many of these are very commercially
valuable species and declines in sand eel have caused declines in their numbers
due to lack of prey. Marine mammals also feed on Raitt's sand eels but less
regularly. Mostly species such as grey seals, harbour seals and harbour porpoise
consume lots of sand eels in the Spring and early Summer.
Raitt's sand eels feed mainly on zooplankton. By consuming zooplankton they act
as a link through to the higher trophic level predators that eat sand eels.
- Anderson, H.B., Evans, P.G.H., Potts, J.M., Harris, M.P. & Wanless, S. (2014) "The diet of Common Guillemot Uria aalge chicks provides
evidence of changing prey communities in the North Sea" Ibis 156:23-34
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12099
- Lynam, C.P., Halliday, N.C., Höffle, H., Wright, P.J., van Damme, C.J.G.,
Edwards, M., & Pitois, S. (2013) "Spatial patterns and trends in abundance of
larval sandeels in the North Sea: 1950-2005"
ICES Journal of Marine Science 70: 540-553
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst006
- Smout, S., Rindorf, A., Wanless, S., Daunt, F., Harris, M.P. & Matthiopoulos, J. (2013) "Seabirds maintain offspring provisioning rate despite
fluctuations in prey abundance: a multi-species functional response for guillemots in the North Sea" Journal of Applied Ecology
50(4):1071–1079
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12095
- Thaxter, C.B., Daunt, F., Gremillet, D., Harris, M.P., Benvenuti, S., Watanuki,Y.,
Hamer, K.C. & Wanless, S. (2013) "Modelling the Effects of
Prey Size and Distribution on Prey Capture Rates of Two Sympatric Marine Predators" PLoS ONE 8(11): e79915
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0079915
- Henderson PA, Seaby RMH & Somes JR (2011) "Community level
response to climate change: The long-term study of the fish and crustacean
community of the Bristol Channel" J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 400:78-89
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2011.02.028
- Harris, M.P., Newell, M., Daunt, F., Speakman, J.R. & Wanless, S. (2008)
"Snake Pipefish Entelurus aequoreus are poor food for seabirds" Ibis 150:413–415
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2007.00780.x
- Frederiksen, M., Mavor, R.A. & Wanless, S. (2007) "Seabirds as environmental indicators: the advantages of combining data sets" Mar Ecol Prog
Ser 352: 205-211
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps07071
- Frederiksen, M., Edwards, M., Richardson, A.J., Halliday, N.C. & Wanless, S.
(2006) "From plankton to top predators: bottom-up control of a marine food web
across four trophic levels" J. Animal Ecol. 75:1259-1268
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01148.x
- Harris, M.P., Heubeck, M., Shaw, D.N. & Okill, J.D. (2006) "Dramatic changes in the return date of Guillemots Uria aalge to colonies in
Shetland, 1962-2005" Bird Study 53:247-252
[notes]
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tandf/bird/2006/00000053/00000003/art00007
- Frederiksen, M., Wright, P.J., Harris, M.P., Mavor, R.A., Heubeck, M. &
Wanless, S. (2005) "Regional patterns of kittiwake Rissa tridactyla breeding
success are related to variability in sandeel recruitment" Mar Ecol Prog Ser
300:201-211
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps300201
- Wanless, S., Harris, M.P., Redman, P., & Speakman, J.R. (2005) "Low energy
values of fish as a probable cause of a major seabird breeding failure in the
North Sea" Mar Ecol Prog Ser 294:1-8
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps294001
- Wanless, S., Wright, P.J., Harris, M.P. & Elston, D.A. (2004) "Evidence for
decrease in size of lesser sandeels (Ammodytes marinus) in a North Sea
aggregation over a 30-yr period" Mar Ecol Prog Ser 279:237-246
[notes]
http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps279237
- Collins, N.R. & Williams, R. (1982) "Zooplankton Communities in the Bristol
Channel and Severn Estuary" Mar Ecol Prog Ser 9:1-11
[notes]
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v9/
Lynam, C.P.,
Halliday, N.C.,
Höffle, H.,
Wright, P.J.,
van Damme, C.J.G.,
Edwards, M.,
Pitois, S.,
Thaxter, C.B.,
Daunt, F.,
Grémillet, D.,
Harris, M.P.,
Benvenuti, S.,
Watanuki, Y.,
Hamer, K.C.,
Wanless, S.,
Newell, M.,
Speakman, J.R.,
Frederiksen, M.,
Edwards, M.,
Richardson, A.J.,
Halliday, N.C.,
Henderson PA,
Seaby RMH,
Somes JR,
Mavor, R.,
Heubeck, M.,
Shaw, D.N.,
Okill, J.D.,
Redman, P.,
Elston, D.A.,
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