Data from: Metabarcoding dietary analysis of coral dwelling predatory fish demonstrates the minor contribution of coral mutualists to their highly partitioned, generalist diet

• Main Authors: Leray, Matthieu, Meyer, Christopher P., Mills, Suzanne C.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: Camallanidae; Vanikoridae; Miraciidae; Coelosphaeridae; Temora discaudata; Eviota; Trematoda; Actaeinae; Autolytinae; Menaethius monoceros; Copepoda; Echinoidea; Caranx melampygus; Chromis vanderbilti; Liocarpilodes integerrimus; Trapezia areolata; Polychaeta; Trapezia rufopunctata; Cirratulidae; Palaemonella tenuipes; Lienardia mighelsi; Thalassoma hardwicke; Gammaropsis; Maxillopoda; Lysiosquillidae; Harpacticus; Cerithium; Enterogona; Gobiidae; Terebellidae; Pomachromis fuscidorsalis; Tanaidacea; Trapezia bidentata; Petrolisthes; Chlorurus sordidus; Syllidae; Maera; Pandalidae; Ampharetidae; Palaemonidae; Thor; Poecilostomatoida; Gigartinales; Apogon nigrofasciatus; Huenia; Hapalocarcinus; Pagurixus; Lithoglyptidae; Palaemonella rotumana; Mysida; Scarus globiceps; Galatheidae; Palmyria; Pilodius; Plumularia; Demospongiae; Agalmatidae; Clionaidae; Decapterus macarellus; Emiliania huxleyi; Phylladiorhynchus; Dolabrifera dolabrifera; Paranamixis fijiensis; Gelidiaceae; Ophiactis; Brachyura; Nemichthys; Anthuridea; Aphelenchoididae; Argonautidae; Clausocalanus arcuicornis; Nephtyidae; Dendropoma; Eviota disrupta; Amblycirrhitus bimacula; Amphilochus; Santiidae; Plectroglyphidodon dickii; Chromis margaritifer; Titanoderma prototypum; Enchelyurus ater; Manaethius monoceros; Xanthias lamarcki; Atergatopsis germaini; Caranx sexfasciatus; Calcinus morgani; Cerithiidae; Dascyllus flavicaudus; Bemlos waipio; Viriola incisa; Gymnothorax buroensis; Chlorodiella laevissima; Corallinaceae; Sagittidae; Candacia ethiopica; Harpacticoida; Phylladiorhynchus integrirostris; Azadinium poporum; Gastropoda; Phenacolepadidae; Homalopoma maculosa; Ctenochaetus striatus; Amphipoda; Clausocalanus minor; Scarus psittacus; Alpheidae; Sipuncula; Caridea; Chromis viridis; Esola; Isopoda; Jonesius triunguiculatus; Calanoida; Ceramiales; Cirripectes variolosus; Petalifera; Didemnidae; Perciformes; Plectroglyphidodon johnstonianus; Ptychoderidae; Chlorodiella crispipleopa; Corycaeus; Siphonostomatoida; Pseudocheilinus hexataenia; Sebastapistes tinkhami; Cuapetes ensifrons; Pocillopora; Stegastes nigricans; Gomphosus varius; Pascula muricata; Acartia negligens; Chaetodon trichrous; Zebrasoma scopas; Dascyllus aruanus; Stomatolina rubra; Vitricithna marmorata; Oithonidae; Perinia tumida; Hydrozoa; Cyclodius ungulatus; Halopteris constricta; Hippolytidae; Pilodius pugil; Arete indicus; Polynesoecetes kekeae; trophic interactions; Raoulserenea ornata; Fennera chacei; Oncaeidae; Trapeziidae; Bunodeopsis medusoides; Lachnopodus subacutus; Cestoda; Halichoeres hortulanus; Stylocheilus striatus; Erythrotrichiaceae; Monetaria annulus; Sargassaceae; Trapezia serenei; Ophiocoma pica; Decapoda; Harpiliopsis beaupresii; Drupa ricinus; 3 days; Notopygos; Polynoidae; Galathea mauritiana; Margaretta; Verrucidae; Monetaria caputdraconis; Alpheus dolerus; Haminoea natalensis; Paguridae; Cheilopogon pitcairnensis; Munnidae; Pilodius flavus; Turbellaria; Chlorodiella barbata; Clausocalanus furcatus; Dendropoma gregaria; Malacostraca; Copepods
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v0p71; http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.v0p71

Understanding the role of predators in food webs can be challenging in highly diverse predator/prey systems composed of small cryptic species. DNA based dietary analysis can supplement predator removal experiments and provide high resolution for prey identification. Here we use a metabarcoding approach to provide initial insights into the diet and functional role of coral-dwelling predatory fish feeding on small invertebrates. Fish were collected in Moorea (French Polynesia) where the BIOCODE project has generated DNA barcodes for numerous coral associated invertebrate species. Pyrosequencing data revealed a total of 292 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) in the gut contents of the arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus), the flame hawkfish (Neocirrhites armatus) and the coral croucher (Caracanthus maculatus). One hundred forty-nine (51%) of them had species-level matches in reference libraries (>98% similarity) while 76 additional OTUs (26%) could be identified to higher taxonomic levels. Decapods that have a mutualistic relationship with Pocillopora and are typically dominant among coral branches, represent a minor contribution of the predators’ diets. Instead, predators mainly consumed transient species including pelagic taxa such as copepods, chaetognaths and siphonophores suggesting non random feeding behavior. We also identified prey species known to have direct negative interactions with stony corals, such as Hapalocarcinus sp, a gall crab considered a coral parasite, as well as species of vermetid snails known for their deleterious effects on coral growth. Pocillopora DNA accounted for 20.8% and 20.1% of total number of sequences in the guts of the flame hawkfish and coral croucher but it was not detected in the guts of the arc-eye hawkfish. Comparison of diets among the three fishes demonstrates remarkable partitioning with nearly 80% of prey items consumed by only one predator. Overall, the taxonomic resolution provided by the metabarcoding approach highlights a highly complex interaction web and demonstrates that levels of trophic partitioning among coral reef fishes have likely been underestimated. Therefore, we strongly encourage further empirical approaches to dietary studies prior to making assumptions of trophic equivalency in food web reconstruction. : 454 reads - fasta formatThis files contains all unique reads that passed the initial denoising step as specified in the manuscript.Poc_associates.shhh.fasta454 name fileit contains the name of all reads of the denoised data file that are identical to the representative reads shown in the fasta file. The first column contains the representative sequence's name. The second column contains the names of its representatives separated by commas.Poc_associates.shhh.names454 group fileIt contains the name of the sample each 454 read belongs to. FL: Neocirrhites armatus; AEH: Paracirrhites arcatus; CC: Caracanthus maculatus.Poc_associates.shhh.groups