Atlantic cod individual spatial behaviour and stable isotope associations in a no-take marine reserve

• Main Authors: Monk, Christopher, Power, Michael, Freitas, Carla, Harrison, Philip, Heupel, Michelle, Kuparinen, Anna, Moland, Even, Simpfendorfer, Colin, Villegas Ríos, David, Olsen, Esben Moland
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: acoustic telemetry; Atlantic cod; diet specialization; Marine reserves; Stable isotopes; atlantic cod; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/8370657; https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pk0p2ngv6

Foraging is a behavioural process and, therefore, individual behaviour and diet are theorized to covary. However, few comparisons of individual behaviour type and diet exist in the wild. We tested whether behaviour type and diet covary in a protected population of Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. Working in a no-take marine reserve, we could collect data on natural behavioural variation and diet choice with minimal anthropogenic disturbance. We inferred behaviour using acoustic telemetry and diet from stable isotope compositions (expressed as δ13C and δ15N values). We further investigated whether behaviour and diet could have survival costs. We found cod with shorter diel vertical migration distances fed at higher trophic levels. Cod δ13C and δ15N values scaled positively with body size. Neither behaviour nor diet predicted survival, indicating phenotypic diversity is maintained without survival costs for cod in a protected ecosystem. The links between diet and diel vertical migration highlight that future work is needed to understand whether the shifts in this behaviour during environmental change (e.g. fishing or climate), could lead to trophic cascades. Funding provided by: Research Council of NorwayCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100005416Award Number: CODSIZE 294926Funding provided by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000038Award Number: Funding provided by: HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie ActionsCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100018694Award Number: 793627Funding provided by: Spanish National Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339Award Number: Funding provided by: Academy of FinlandCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002341Award Number: 317495Funding provided by: European Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000781Award Number: 770884