DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey
Introduction Currently, Arctic marine ecosystems are witnessing the most rapid physical changes worldwide, leading to shifts in pelagic and benthic communities and food web structure, concomitant with the introduction of boreal species. Gelatinous zooplankton or jellyfish represent one particular gr...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 2024-09-15T18:17:03+00:00 DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey Dischereit, Annkathrin Beermann, Jan Lebreton, Benoit Wangensteen, Owen S. Neuhaus, Stefan Havermans, Charlotte Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 journal-article 2024 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 2024-08-20T04:05:04Z Introduction Currently, Arctic marine ecosystems are witnessing the most rapid physical changes worldwide, leading to shifts in pelagic and benthic communities and food web structure, concomitant with the introduction of boreal species. Gelatinous zooplankton or jellyfish represent one particular group of which several boreal species are prone to undergo significant poleward range expansions and population increases in the Arctic in the course of the ongoing changes. Historically, jellyfish were considered a trophic dead-end, but an increasing number of studies using modern tools have highlighted their role as major prey items in marine food webs. In this study, we aimed to verify the role of jellyfish and other metazoans as food sources in the Arctic polar night food web, when pelagic resources are limited. Methods We identified the diet of different bentho-pelagic amphipod species in the Atlantifying Kongsfjorden (West Svalbard) during the polar night. We regularly sampled lysianassoid and gammarid amphipods using baited traps and hand nets over a period of one month during the polar night and identified their diet spectrum by applying DNA metabarcoding (COI) to their stomach contents. Results We demonstrate that all investigated species are omnivorous. Fish species including polar cod and snailfish, likely in the shape of carrion, played an important role in the diet of the scavengers Orchomenella minuta and Anonyx sarsi . Predation and potential scavenging on jellyfish contributed to the diet of all four investigated species, particularly for the species Gammarus setosus and G. oceanicus , as evidenced by high read abundances and high frequencies of occurrence. Besides jellyfish, crustaceans and macroalgae were important components of the diet of the two Gammarus species. Discussion The diverse jellyfish community present in Kongsfjorden in the polar night is clearly being utilized as a food source, either through pelagic feeding or feeding on jelly-falls, albeit to a different extent in the local amphipod ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden polar cod polar night Svalbard Zooplankton Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Marine Science 11 |
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Open Polar |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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crfrontiers |
language |
unknown |
description |
Introduction Currently, Arctic marine ecosystems are witnessing the most rapid physical changes worldwide, leading to shifts in pelagic and benthic communities and food web structure, concomitant with the introduction of boreal species. Gelatinous zooplankton or jellyfish represent one particular group of which several boreal species are prone to undergo significant poleward range expansions and population increases in the Arctic in the course of the ongoing changes. Historically, jellyfish were considered a trophic dead-end, but an increasing number of studies using modern tools have highlighted their role as major prey items in marine food webs. In this study, we aimed to verify the role of jellyfish and other metazoans as food sources in the Arctic polar night food web, when pelagic resources are limited. Methods We identified the diet of different bentho-pelagic amphipod species in the Atlantifying Kongsfjorden (West Svalbard) during the polar night. We regularly sampled lysianassoid and gammarid amphipods using baited traps and hand nets over a period of one month during the polar night and identified their diet spectrum by applying DNA metabarcoding (COI) to their stomach contents. Results We demonstrate that all investigated species are omnivorous. Fish species including polar cod and snailfish, likely in the shape of carrion, played an important role in the diet of the scavengers Orchomenella minuta and Anonyx sarsi . Predation and potential scavenging on jellyfish contributed to the diet of all four investigated species, particularly for the species Gammarus setosus and G. oceanicus , as evidenced by high read abundances and high frequencies of occurrence. Besides jellyfish, crustaceans and macroalgae were important components of the diet of the two Gammarus species. Discussion The diverse jellyfish community present in Kongsfjorden in the polar night is clearly being utilized as a food source, either through pelagic feeding or feeding on jelly-falls, albeit to a different extent in the local amphipod ... |
author2 |
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dischereit, Annkathrin Beermann, Jan Lebreton, Benoit Wangensteen, Owen S. Neuhaus, Stefan Havermans, Charlotte |
spellingShingle |
Dischereit, Annkathrin Beermann, Jan Lebreton, Benoit Wangensteen, Owen S. Neuhaus, Stefan Havermans, Charlotte DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
author_facet |
Dischereit, Annkathrin Beermann, Jan Lebreton, Benoit Wangensteen, Owen S. Neuhaus, Stefan Havermans, Charlotte |
author_sort |
Dischereit, Annkathrin |
title |
DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
title_short |
DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
title_full |
DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
title_fullStr |
DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
title_full_unstemmed |
DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of Arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
title_sort |
dna metabarcoding reveals a diverse, omnivorous diet of arctic amphipods during the polar night, with jellyfish and fish as major prey |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650/full |
genre |
Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden polar cod polar night Svalbard Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Kongsfjord* Kongsfjorden polar cod polar night Svalbard Zooplankton |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 11 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1327650 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
11 |
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1810455039800508416 |