Green macroalgae blooms (Ulva spp.) influence trophic ecology of juvenile flatfish differently in sandy beach nurseries

• Published in: Marine Environmental Research
• Main Authors: Jones, Auriane, Quillien, Nolwenn, Fabvre, Axel, Grall, Jacques, Schaal, Gauthier, Le Bris, Hervé
• Other Authors: Écologie et santé des écosystèmes (ESE), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-INSTITUT AGRO Agrocampus Ouest, Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France Energies Marines Brest
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Eutrophication; Fish diet; Foraging behavior; Macrobenthic invertebrates; North-East Atlantic; Pegusa lascaris; Pleuronectes platessa; Scophthalmus maximus; Stable isotopes; Trophic niche; ACL; [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment; [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Sandy Beach; North East Atlantic; Turbot
• Online Access: https://institut-agro-rennes-angers.hal.science/hal-02612654; https://institut-agro-rennes-angers.hal.science/hal-02612654/document; https://institut-agro-rennes-angers.hal.science/hal-02612654/file/MERE_2019_338.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104843

International audience Opportunistic green macroalgae blooms increasingly affect coastal areas worldwide. Understanding their impacts on organisms that use this zone, such as juvenile flatfish, is critical. By combining stable isotope data, digestive tract contents and community analyses of flatfish and their potential prey (benthic macroinvertebrates) from two North-East Atlantic sandy beaches (one impacted by blooms and one not), we detected similar and species-specific trophic changes among three co-occurring species (sand sole, plaice and turbot). Across flatfish species, juveniles displayed more opportunistic foraging behavior at the impacted site. Differently, plaice and sand sole relied more on the additional basal resource (Ulva spp.) than turbot. Finally, sand sole and turbot presented a stronger diet shift at the impacted site than plaice. We hypothesize that the species-specific response to the blooms are mostly driven by how the flatfish detect their prey (using visual and/or chemical cues) and when they forage (diurnal or nocturnal foraging).