Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean
We report the trophic structure of a myctophid assemblage by measuring the isotopic niches of 14 species living in Kerguelen waters, southern Indian Ocean. Most of the species show distinct isotopic niches that differ by at least one of the two niche axes (δ 13 C habitat and δ 15 N trophic position)...
Published in: | Limnology and Oceanography |
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crwiley:10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 2024-06-23T07:56:56+00:00 Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean Cherel, Yves Fontaine, Camille Richard, Pierre Labatc, Jean-Philippe 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.2010.55.1.0324 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Limnology and Oceanography volume 55, issue 1, page 324-332 ISSN 0024-3590 1939-5590 journal-article 2009 crwiley https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 2024-05-31T08:15:58Z We report the trophic structure of a myctophid assemblage by measuring the isotopic niches of 14 species living in Kerguelen waters, southern Indian Ocean. Most of the species show distinct isotopic niches that differ by at least one of the two niche axes (δ 13 C habitat and δ 15 N trophic position), indicating trophic partitioning within the assemblage. Strong niche segregation occurs within each of the three most common genera of myctophids ( Electrona , Gymnoscopelus , and Protomyctophum ), illustrating the different mechanisms (habitat and dietary segregation) that allow coexistence of closely related species. Calculated trophic levels (TLs) of myctophids ranged from 3.3 to 4.2, showing that they are secondary and tertiary consumers in the pelagic ecosystem. The positive relationship between TL and standard length of fish points out a structuring effect of size, with larger species ( Gymnoscopelus spp.) occupying a higher trophic position than smaller species ( Krefftichthys anderssoni and Protomyctophum spp.). Myctophids occupy an intermediate trophic position between macrozooplanktonic crustaceans and seabirds and marine mammals within the pelagic ecosystem. However, the TLs of large myctophids overlap those of crustacean‐eating seabirds [e.g., Eudypte s spp. (crested penguins) and Pachyptila belcheri ]. The isotopic niche of myctophids indicates that Aptenodytes patagonicus (king penguin) adults prey upon K. anderssoni when they feed for themselves, thus exemplifying the usefulness of isotopic datasets on potential prey of predators to depict trophic relationships. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Wiley Online Library Indian Kerguelen Southern Ocean Limnology and Oceanography 55 1 324 332 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
We report the trophic structure of a myctophid assemblage by measuring the isotopic niches of 14 species living in Kerguelen waters, southern Indian Ocean. Most of the species show distinct isotopic niches that differ by at least one of the two niche axes (δ 13 C habitat and δ 15 N trophic position), indicating trophic partitioning within the assemblage. Strong niche segregation occurs within each of the three most common genera of myctophids ( Electrona , Gymnoscopelus , and Protomyctophum ), illustrating the different mechanisms (habitat and dietary segregation) that allow coexistence of closely related species. Calculated trophic levels (TLs) of myctophids ranged from 3.3 to 4.2, showing that they are secondary and tertiary consumers in the pelagic ecosystem. The positive relationship between TL and standard length of fish points out a structuring effect of size, with larger species ( Gymnoscopelus spp.) occupying a higher trophic position than smaller species ( Krefftichthys anderssoni and Protomyctophum spp.). Myctophids occupy an intermediate trophic position between macrozooplanktonic crustaceans and seabirds and marine mammals within the pelagic ecosystem. However, the TLs of large myctophids overlap those of crustacean‐eating seabirds [e.g., Eudypte s spp. (crested penguins) and Pachyptila belcheri ]. The isotopic niche of myctophids indicates that Aptenodytes patagonicus (king penguin) adults prey upon K. anderssoni when they feed for themselves, thus exemplifying the usefulness of isotopic datasets on potential prey of predators to depict trophic relationships. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cherel, Yves Fontaine, Camille Richard, Pierre Labatc, Jean-Philippe |
spellingShingle |
Cherel, Yves Fontaine, Camille Richard, Pierre Labatc, Jean-Philippe Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
author_facet |
Cherel, Yves Fontaine, Camille Richard, Pierre Labatc, Jean-Philippe |
author_sort |
Cherel, Yves |
title |
Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
isotopic niches and trophic levels of myctophid fishes and their predators in the southern ocean |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.4319%2Flo.2010.55.1.0324 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 |
geographic |
Indian Kerguelen Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Indian Kerguelen Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Limnology and Oceanography volume 55, issue 1, page 324-332 ISSN 0024-3590 1939-5590 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.2010.55.1.0324 |
container_title |
Limnology and Oceanography |
container_volume |
55 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
324 |
op_container_end_page |
332 |
_version_ |
1802650331172044800 |