Food habits of the river otter Lutra canadensis in the marine environment of British Columbia

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Abstract
Food habits of river otters (L. canadensis) inhabiting coastal British Columbia were studied by examining scat and stomach samples. Fish remains occurred in 99.4% of the scats: crustacean and bird remains were encountered in 7.2 and 4.2%, respectively. The majority of fish identified belong to 6 groups: Embiotocidae (occurring in 42.2% of the scats), Cottidae (40.5%), Pleuronectiformes (40.0%), Blennioidea (33.3%), Scorpaenidae (30.1%) and Hexagrammidae (13.1%). Of 69 stomachs collected by trappers, 86.9% contained remains of fish and 13% contained bird remains. Only 2 samples (2.9%) contained crustacean remains. Similar families of fish were found in both scat and stomach samples. Scat samples, collected on 10 consecutive visits to 55 sites from May 1977-Feb 1978, indicated that, with the possible exception of bird remains, food types do not appear to vary seasonally. Otters in the marine environment utilize their habitat in the same manner that freshwater otters do; they are opportunistic feeders and rely primarily on midsize, slower moving fish that occur in the intertidal and subtidal regions close to shore.

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