Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs
Trophic interactions in complex mesopelagic ecosystems are generally poorly understood, but tracing diet remains of predators provides key insights into these. In many cases, however, the prey remains obtained from predator stomachs are unidentifiable by visual inspection and identification depends...
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2018
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Online Access: | https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/tracing-european-eel-in-the-diet-of-mesopelagic-fishes-from-the-sargasso-sea-using-dna-from-fish-stomachs(f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62).html https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/177491800/Tracing_European_eel_in_the_diet_of_mesopelagic_fishes_from_the_Sargasso_Sea_using_DNA_from_fish_stomachs.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050384419&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62 2023-12-31T09:59:02+01:00 Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs Jensen, Mads Reinholdt Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm Munk, Peter Thomsen, Philip Francis Moller, Peter Rask 2018-08 application/pdf https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/tracing-european-eel-in-the-diet-of-mesopelagic-fishes-from-the-sargasso-sea-using-dna-from-fish-stomachs(f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62).html https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/177491800/Tracing_European_eel_in_the_diet_of_mesopelagic_fishes_from_the_Sargasso_Sea_using_DNA_from_fish_stomachs.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050384419&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/tracing-european-eel-in-the-diet-of-mesopelagic-fishes-from-the-sargasso-sea-using-dna-from-fish-stomachs(f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62).html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Jensen , M R , Knudsen , S W , Munk , P , Thomsen , P F & Moller , P R 2018 , ' Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs ' , Marine Biology , vol. 165 , no. 8 , 130 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 ENVIRONMENTAL DNA BENTHOSEMA-GLACIALE FEEDING-HABITS WATER SAMPLES BIODIVERSITY ATLANTIC IDENTIFICATION PREDATORS COMMUNITY ECOLOGY article 2018 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 2023-12-07T00:02:55Z Trophic interactions in complex mesopelagic ecosystems are generally poorly understood, but tracing diet remains of predators provides key insights into these. In many cases, however, the prey remains obtained from predator stomachs are unidentifiable by visual inspection and identification depends on new molecular techniques. Here, we search for predators on larvae of the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a species which has shown a dramatic decline in recruitment to the stock. We sampled for predators among mesopelagic fishes using pelagic trawling in the known area of spawning and larval distribution of A. anguilla in the Sargasso Sea. We aimed at developing a species-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) system, targeting the nd4-region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), to search for eel remains in the stomachs of 17 mesopelagic fish taxa (62 specimens). Remains of A. anguilla were confirmed in 9.7% of all fish stomachs investigated, representing six species (Lampanyctus cuprarius, L. photonotus, Myctophum selenops, Notoscopelus caudispinosus, Melamphaes typhlops, and Chauliodus danae). Thus, our study documents that mesopelagic fishes in the Sargasso Sea to some extent predate the A. anguilla larvae, motivating further studies on upper-level trophic interactions in this oceanic ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla European eel Aarhus University: Research Marine Biology 165 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Aarhus University: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftuniaarhuspubl |
language |
English |
topic |
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA BENTHOSEMA-GLACIALE FEEDING-HABITS WATER SAMPLES BIODIVERSITY ATLANTIC IDENTIFICATION PREDATORS COMMUNITY ECOLOGY |
spellingShingle |
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA BENTHOSEMA-GLACIALE FEEDING-HABITS WATER SAMPLES BIODIVERSITY ATLANTIC IDENTIFICATION PREDATORS COMMUNITY ECOLOGY Jensen, Mads Reinholdt Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm Munk, Peter Thomsen, Philip Francis Moller, Peter Rask Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
topic_facet |
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA BENTHOSEMA-GLACIALE FEEDING-HABITS WATER SAMPLES BIODIVERSITY ATLANTIC IDENTIFICATION PREDATORS COMMUNITY ECOLOGY |
description |
Trophic interactions in complex mesopelagic ecosystems are generally poorly understood, but tracing diet remains of predators provides key insights into these. In many cases, however, the prey remains obtained from predator stomachs are unidentifiable by visual inspection and identification depends on new molecular techniques. Here, we search for predators on larvae of the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a species which has shown a dramatic decline in recruitment to the stock. We sampled for predators among mesopelagic fishes using pelagic trawling in the known area of spawning and larval distribution of A. anguilla in the Sargasso Sea. We aimed at developing a species-specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) system, targeting the nd4-region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), to search for eel remains in the stomachs of 17 mesopelagic fish taxa (62 specimens). Remains of A. anguilla were confirmed in 9.7% of all fish stomachs investigated, representing six species (Lampanyctus cuprarius, L. photonotus, Myctophum selenops, Notoscopelus caudispinosus, Melamphaes typhlops, and Chauliodus danae). Thus, our study documents that mesopelagic fishes in the Sargasso Sea to some extent predate the A. anguilla larvae, motivating further studies on upper-level trophic interactions in this oceanic ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jensen, Mads Reinholdt Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm Munk, Peter Thomsen, Philip Francis Moller, Peter Rask |
author_facet |
Jensen, Mads Reinholdt Knudsen, Steen Wilhelm Munk, Peter Thomsen, Philip Francis Moller, Peter Rask |
author_sort |
Jensen, Mads Reinholdt |
title |
Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
title_short |
Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
title_full |
Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
title_fullStr |
Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs |
title_sort |
tracing european eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the sargasso sea using dna from fish stomachs |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/tracing-european-eel-in-the-diet-of-mesopelagic-fishes-from-the-sargasso-sea-using-dna-from-fish-stomachs(f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62).html https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/177491800/Tracing_European_eel_in_the_diet_of_mesopelagic_fishes_from_the_Sargasso_Sea_using_DNA_from_fish_stomachs.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050384419&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla European eel |
op_source |
Jensen , M R , Knudsen , S W , Munk , P , Thomsen , P F & Moller , P R 2018 , ' Tracing European eel in the diet of mesopelagic fishes from the Sargasso Sea using DNA from fish stomachs ' , Marine Biology , vol. 165 , no. 8 , 130 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 |
op_relation |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/tracing-european-eel-in-the-diet-of-mesopelagic-fishes-from-the-sargasso-sea-using-dna-from-fish-stomachs(f701e2f0-8213-4ce9-a1dc-690ec438bf62).html |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3390-3 |
container_title |
Marine Biology |
container_volume |
165 |
container_issue |
8 |
_version_ |
1786823632384688128 |