Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey?
There is growing evidence that gelatinous zooplanktonic organisms (gelata) are regular prey for marine endotherms. Yet the consumption of gelata is intriguing in terms of the energy reward, because endotherms have a high energy demand and the consumption of gelata provides little energy return. In t...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/139426 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:139426 2023-05-15T13:55:18+02:00 Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? Thiebot, J-B McInnes, JC 2019 https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/139426 en eng Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 Thiebot, J-B and McInnes, JC, Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey?, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77, (1) pp. 58-71. ISSN 1054-3139 (2019) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/139426 Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecosystem Function Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 2020-07-20T22:16:16Z There is growing evidence that gelatinous zooplanktonic organisms (gelata) are regular prey for marine endotherms. Yet the consumption of gelata is intriguing in terms of the energy reward, because endotherms have a high energy demand and the consumption of gelata provides little energy return. In this paper, we take advantage of recent advances in diet analysis methods, notably animal-borne video loggers and DNA analysis in seabirds, to examine our current understanding of this interaction. We suggest that several hypotheses commonly raised to explain predation on gelata (including increased biomass, reduced prey availability, and secondary ingestion) have already been tested and many lack strong support. We emphasize that gelata are widely consumed by endotherms (121 cases reported across 82 species of seabirds, marine mammals, and endothermic fishes) from the Arctic to the Antarctic but noticeably less in the tropics. We propose that in line with research from terrestrial ecosystems atypical food items might be beneficial to the consumers in a non-energetic context, encompassing self-medication, and responding to homeostatic challenges. Changing the last resort context for a functional response framework may improve our understanding of widespread predation on gelata. Further biochemical analyses are needed to formally examine this perspective. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic ICES Journal of Marine Science |
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Open Polar |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecosystem Function |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecosystem Function Thiebot, J-B McInnes, JC Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecosystem Function |
description |
There is growing evidence that gelatinous zooplanktonic organisms (gelata) are regular prey for marine endotherms. Yet the consumption of gelata is intriguing in terms of the energy reward, because endotherms have a high energy demand and the consumption of gelata provides little energy return. In this paper, we take advantage of recent advances in diet analysis methods, notably animal-borne video loggers and DNA analysis in seabirds, to examine our current understanding of this interaction. We suggest that several hypotheses commonly raised to explain predation on gelata (including increased biomass, reduced prey availability, and secondary ingestion) have already been tested and many lack strong support. We emphasize that gelata are widely consumed by endotherms (121 cases reported across 82 species of seabirds, marine mammals, and endothermic fishes) from the Arctic to the Antarctic but noticeably less in the tropics. We propose that in line with research from terrestrial ecosystems atypical food items might be beneficial to the consumers in a non-energetic context, encompassing self-medication, and responding to homeostatic challenges. Changing the last resort context for a functional response framework may improve our understanding of widespread predation on gelata. Further biochemical analyses are needed to formally examine this perspective. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thiebot, J-B McInnes, JC |
author_facet |
Thiebot, J-B McInnes, JC |
author_sort |
Thiebot, J-B |
title |
Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
title_short |
Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
title_full |
Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
title_fullStr |
Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
title_sort |
why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey? |
publisher |
Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/139426 |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 Thiebot, J-B and McInnes, JC, Why do marine endotherms eat gelatinous prey?, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77, (1) pp. 58-71. ISSN 1054-3139 (2019) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/139426 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz208 |
container_title |
ICES Journal of Marine Science |
_version_ |
1766261725498179584 |