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Freeman HA, Hepburn LJ, Taylor MI, Hunter E, Dumbrell AJ, Gregson BH, Smith AJ, Lamphierre A, Cameron TC. What makes a habitat a home? Habitat associations of juvenile European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, in estuarine nurseries. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38831672 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Selection of nursery habitats by marine fish, such as European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), is poorly understood. Identifying and protecting the full range of juvenile nursery habitats is vital to supporting resilient fish populations and economically important fisheries. We examined how the condition, stomach fullness, and diet of juvenile European sea bass, along with their abundance, differ at high or low tide between the following estuarine habitats: saltmarsh, oyster reefs, shingle, sand, and mud edge habitats. Using a combination of fyke and seine netting we found no difference in sea bass abundance or condition across high-tide habitats, suggesting that rather than differentially selecting between them, juvenile sea bass use all available shallow habitats at high tide. Stomach fullness was significantly higher on saltmarsh and sand compared to mud, and thus these habitats may support better foraging. Dietary DNA metabarcoding revealed that sand and saltmarsh diets mostly comprised Hediste polychaetes, whereas zooplanktonic taxa dominated diets over mud. At low tide, sea bass abundance was highest in shingle and oyster reefs, where stomach fullness and condition were lowest. This may indicate a potential trade-off between using habitats for foraging and refuge. Although sea bass abundance alone does not capture productivity, the high abundance across all estuarine habitats at high tide suggests that it is important to consider the protection of a mosaic of interconnected habitats to support nursery functions rather than focus on individual habitat types.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Martin I Taylor
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Ewan Hunter
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Lowestoft Laboratory, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK
| | - Alex J Dumbrell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Benjamin H Gregson
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
- School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Albert J Smith
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | | | - Tom C Cameron
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
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2
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Park JK, Do Y. Combined effect of seasons and life history in an anuran strengthens the response and relationship between their physiology and gut microbiota. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10137. [PMID: 38698108 PMCID: PMC11066060 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60105-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Gut microbiota impact host physiology, though simultaneous investigations in ectothermic vertebrates are rare. Particularly, amphibians may exhibit more complex interactions between host physiology and the effects of gut microbiota due to the combination of seasonal changes and complex life histories. In this study, we assessed the relationships among food resources, gut bacterial communities, and host physiology in frogs (Phelophylax nigromaculatus), taking into account seasonal and life history variations. We found that food sources were not correlated with physiological parameters but had some relationships with the gut bacterial community. Variations in gut bacterial community and host physiology were influenced by the combined effects of seasonal differences and life history, though mostly driven by seasonal differences. An increase in Firmicutes was associated with higher fat content, reflecting potential fat storage in frogs during the non-breeding season. The increase in Bacteroidetes resulted in lower fat content in adult frogs and decreased immunity in juvenile frogs during the breeding season, demonstrating a direct link. Our results suggest that the gut microbiome may act as a link between food conditions and physiological status, and that the combined effect of seasons and life history could reinforce the relationship between gut microbiota and physiological status in ectothermic animals. While food sources may influence the gut microbiota of ectotherms, we contend that temperature-correlated seasonal variation, which predominately influences most ectotherms, is a significant factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Kyu Park
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kongju National University, (32588) Room 204, 56, Kongjudaehak-Ro, Kongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 32588, Republic of Korea
| | - Yuno Do
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kongju National University, (32588) Room 204, 56, Kongjudaehak-Ro, Kongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 32588, Republic of Korea.
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Sasaki M, Kingsbury KM, Booth DJ, Nagelkerken I. Body size mediates trophic interaction strength of novel fish assemblages under climate change. J Anim Ecol 2024. [PMID: 38644583 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Ecological similarity plays an important role in biotic interactions. Increased body size similarity of competing species, for example, increases the strength of their biotic interactions. Body sizes of many exothermic species are forecast to be altered under global warming, mediating shifts in existing trophic interactions among species, in particular for species with different thermal niches. Temperate rocky reefs along the southeast coast of Australia are located in a climate warming hotspot and now house a mixture of temperate native fish species and poleward range-extending tropical fishes (vagrants), creating novel species assemblages. Here, we studied the relationship between body size similarity and trophic overlap between individual temperate native and tropical vagrant fishes. Dietary niche overlap between vagrant and native fish species increased as their body sizes converged, based on both stomach content composition (short-term diet), stable isotope analyses (integrated long-term diet) and similarity in consumed prey sizes. We conclude that the warming-induced faster growth rates of tropical range-extending fish species at their cool water ranges will continue to converge their body size towards and strengthen their degree of trophic interactions and dietary overlap with co-occurring native temperate species under increasing ocean warming. The strengthening of these novel competitive interactions is likely to drive changes to temperate food web structures and reshuffle existing species community structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minami Sasaki
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Kelsey M Kingsbury
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - David J Booth
- Fish Ecology Lab, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ivan Nagelkerken
- Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
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Mureb LS, Rocha-Santos L, Cassano CR, da Silva Lopes G, Rosa B, Miranda FR, Miranda CRR, Giné GAF. Tree diversity mediates individual diet specialization of the maned sloth (Bradypus torquatus). Mamm Biol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-023-00348-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
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Chen HL, Chang NN, Hsiao WV, Chen WJ, Wang CH, Shiao JC. Using molecular phylogenetic and stable isotopic analysis to identify species, geographical origin and production method of mullet roes. Food Control 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2022.109206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Urban P, Praebel K, Bhat S, Dierking J, Wangensteen OS. DNA-metabarcoding reveals the importance of gelatinous zooplankton in the diet of Pandalus borealis, a keystone species in the Arctic. Mol Ecol 2021; 31:1562-1576. [PMID: 34936153 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Information about the dietary composition of a species is crucial to understanding their position and role in the food web. Increasingly molecular approaches such as DNA-metabarcoding are used in studying trophic relations, not least because they may alleviate problems such as low taxonomic resolution or underestimation of digestible taxa in the diet. Here, we used DNA-metabarcoding with universal primers for cytochrome c oxidase I (COI), to study the diet composition of the Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis), an Arctic keystone species with large socio-economic importance. Across locations, jellyfish and chaetognaths were the most important components in the diet of P. borealis, jointly accounting for 40-60% of the total read abundance. This dietary importance of gelatinous zooplankton contrasts sharply with published results based on SCA. At the same time, diet composition differed between fjord and shelf locations, pointing to different food webs supporting P. borealis in these two systems. Our study underscores the potential of molecular approaches to provide new insights into the diet of marine invertebrates that are difficult to obtain with traditional methods, and calls for a revision of the role of gelatinous zooplankton in the diet of the key Arctic species P. borealis, and in extension, Arctic food webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulina Urban
- Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.,GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
| | - Kim Praebel
- Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.,Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, Elverum, Norway
| | - Shripathi Bhat
- Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Jan Dierking
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany
| | - Owen S Wangensteen
- Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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Consumption of benthic cyanobacterial mats on a Caribbean coral reef. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12693. [PMID: 31481682 PMCID: PMC6722132 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49126-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Herbivory is an important process in the general structuring of coral reef benthic communities. However, evidence of its ability to control coral reef benthic cyanobacterial mats, which have recently proliferated on reefs worldwide, remains ambivalent. Here, we report that the French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru), Striped Parrotfish (Scarus iseri), Rock Beauty (Holacanthus tricolor), Ocean Surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus), Blue Parrotfish (Scarus coeruleus), and Atlantic Blue Tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) consume benthic cyanobacterial mats on coral reefs in Bonaire, Netherlands. We documented the foraging patterns of P. paru and S. iseri, and found that benthic cyanobacterial mats comprised 36.7% ± 5.8% and 15.0% ± 1.53% (mean ± standard error) of the total bites taken by P. paru and S. iseri respectively. This magnitude of consumption suggests that grazing by reef fishes may represent a potentially important, but previously undocumented, top-down control on benthic cyanobacterial mats on Caribbean reefs.
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