The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea

This study presents the diet composition of western Baltic cod Gadus morhua based on 3150 stomachs sampled year-round between 2016 and 2017 using angling, gillnetting and bottom trawling, which enhanced the spatio-temporal coverage of cod habitats. Cod diet composition in shallow areas (<20 m dep...

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Published in:Journal of Fish Biology
Main Authors: Funk, Steffen, Frelat, Romain, Möllmann, Christian, Temming, Axel, Krumme, Uwe
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-forgotten-feeding-ground-patterns-in-seasonal-and-depth-speci
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14615
id ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/574737
record_format openpolar
spelling ftunivwagenin:oai:library.wur.nl:wurpubs/574737 2024-04-28T08:13:04+00:00 The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea Funk, Steffen Frelat, Romain Möllmann, Christian Temming, Axel Krumme, Uwe 2021 application/pdf https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-forgotten-feeding-ground-patterns-in-seasonal-and-depth-speci https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14615 en eng https://edepot.wur.nl/537189 https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-forgotten-feeding-ground-patterns-in-seasonal-and-depth-speci doi:10.1111/jfb.14615 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Wageningen University & Research Journal of Fish Biology 98 (2021) 3 ISSN: 0022-1112 Atlantic cod Belt Sea diet composition feeding ecology stomach content analysis western Baltic cod Article/Letter to editor 2021 ftunivwagenin https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14615 2024-04-03T15:11:23Z This study presents the diet composition of western Baltic cod Gadus morhua based on 3150 stomachs sampled year-round between 2016 and 2017 using angling, gillnetting and bottom trawling, which enhanced the spatio-temporal coverage of cod habitats. Cod diet composition in shallow areas (<20 m depth) was dominated by benthic invertebrate species, mainly the common shore crab Carcinus maneas. Compared to historic diet data from the 1960s and 1980s (limited to depth >20 m), the contribution of herring Clupea harengus decreased and round goby Neogobius melanostomus occurred as a new prey species. Statistical modelling revealed significant relationships between diet composition, catch depth, fish length and season. Generalized additive modelling identified a negative relationship between catch depth and stomach content weight, suggesting reduced food intake in winter when cod use deeper areas for spawning and during peak summer when cod tend to avoid high water temperatures. The results of this study highlight the importance of shallow coastal areas as major feeding habitats of adult cod in the western Baltic Sea, which were previously unknown because samples were restricted to deeper trawlable areas. The results strongly suggest that historic stomach analyses overestimated the role of forage fish and underestimated the role of invertebrate prey. Eventually, this study shows the importance of a comprehensive habitat coverage for unbiased stomach sampling programmes to provide a more reliable estimation of top predator diet, a key information for food web analyses and multispecies models. Article in Journal/Newspaper atlantic cod Gadus morhua Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library Journal of Fish Biology 98 3 707 722
institution Open Polar
collection Wageningen UR (University & Research Centre): Digital Library
op_collection_id ftunivwagenin
language English
topic Atlantic cod
Belt Sea
diet composition
feeding ecology
stomach content analysis
western Baltic cod
spellingShingle Atlantic cod
Belt Sea
diet composition
feeding ecology
stomach content analysis
western Baltic cod
Funk, Steffen
Frelat, Romain
Möllmann, Christian
Temming, Axel
Krumme, Uwe
The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
topic_facet Atlantic cod
Belt Sea
diet composition
feeding ecology
stomach content analysis
western Baltic cod
description This study presents the diet composition of western Baltic cod Gadus morhua based on 3150 stomachs sampled year-round between 2016 and 2017 using angling, gillnetting and bottom trawling, which enhanced the spatio-temporal coverage of cod habitats. Cod diet composition in shallow areas (<20 m depth) was dominated by benthic invertebrate species, mainly the common shore crab Carcinus maneas. Compared to historic diet data from the 1960s and 1980s (limited to depth >20 m), the contribution of herring Clupea harengus decreased and round goby Neogobius melanostomus occurred as a new prey species. Statistical modelling revealed significant relationships between diet composition, catch depth, fish length and season. Generalized additive modelling identified a negative relationship between catch depth and stomach content weight, suggesting reduced food intake in winter when cod use deeper areas for spawning and during peak summer when cod tend to avoid high water temperatures. The results of this study highlight the importance of shallow coastal areas as major feeding habitats of adult cod in the western Baltic Sea, which were previously unknown because samples were restricted to deeper trawlable areas. The results strongly suggest that historic stomach analyses overestimated the role of forage fish and underestimated the role of invertebrate prey. Eventually, this study shows the importance of a comprehensive habitat coverage for unbiased stomach sampling programmes to provide a more reliable estimation of top predator diet, a key information for food web analyses and multispecies models.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Funk, Steffen
Frelat, Romain
Möllmann, Christian
Temming, Axel
Krumme, Uwe
author_facet Funk, Steffen
Frelat, Romain
Möllmann, Christian
Temming, Axel
Krumme, Uwe
author_sort Funk, Steffen
title The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
title_short The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
title_full The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
title_fullStr The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
title_full_unstemmed The forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod Gadus morhua in the western Baltic Sea
title_sort forgotten feeding ground: patterns in seasonal and depth-specific food intake of adult cod gadus morhua in the western baltic sea
publishDate 2021
url https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-forgotten-feeding-ground-patterns-in-seasonal-and-depth-speci
https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14615
genre atlantic cod
Gadus morhua
genre_facet atlantic cod
Gadus morhua
op_source Journal of Fish Biology 98 (2021) 3
ISSN: 0022-1112
op_relation https://edepot.wur.nl/537189
https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/the-forgotten-feeding-ground-patterns-in-seasonal-and-depth-speci
doi:10.1111/jfb.14615
op_rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Wageningen University & Research
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14615
container_title Journal of Fish Biology
container_volume 98
container_issue 3
container_start_page 707
op_container_end_page 722
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