Generalist fishes provide an effective measure of the composition of basal carbon source pools fueling benthic communities, by integrating inputs across major consumer groups. In Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, shallow water invertebrate communities differ from those in other areas in Fiordland due to low salinity caused by freshwater output of a hydroelectric power station. To investigate whether the composition of basal carbon sources supporting this benthic community differed from that in unaltered sites, we sampled a generalist wrasse, Notolabrus celidotus, from altered and unaltered habitats throughout Fiordland, and quantified its δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 34 S and the abundance of its fatty acids. N. celidotus from the altered sites in Doubtful Sound had significantly lower δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 34 S than those collected from similar habitats throughout the Fiordland region, indicating a higher proportion of chemosynthetically fixed organic matter for Doubtful Sound N. celidotus and the invertebrate community upon which they feed. Relatively high abundances of cis-vaccenic acid (18:1ω7c) in fish from Doubtful Sound and δ 13 C values that were ~-33 ‰ for 18:1 isomers confirmed the incorporation of chemosynthetic bacteria, and indicated that the original source of carbon was forest litter. Despite these differences in carbon supply to N. celidotus, analysis of otolith sections revealed no differences in growth rates among sites. The results of this study demonstrate that a shift in invertebrate composition can be indicated by higher order consumers. In Doubtful Sound, decreased abundance of filter-feeding bivalves has reduced the flux of marine derived carbon through the benthic community to higher trophic levels relative to more pristine sites in Fiordland.KEY WORDS: Notolabrus celidotus · Stable isotopes · Fatty acid biomarkers · Compound specific δ 13 C · Food web
Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 411: [127][128][129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136] 2010 tures of fish muscle tissue integrate carbon source use by a community over months to years (e.g. Guelinckx et al. 2007, Suring & Wing 2009). We designed a sampling scheme to test whether anthropogenic modifications to the salinity environment in a New Zealand fjord had altered carbon routing in the benthic community. While the marine and terrestrial environments of the 15 fjords in southern New Zealand, collectively known as Fiordland, remain relatively pristine, Doubtful Sound receives an average of 450 m 3 s -1 of freshwater outflow from the Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station. The resulting persistent shallow low salinity layer (Gibbs et al. 2000) has led to a reduction in the abundance of filter-feeding invertebrates including infaunal clams (Tallis et al. 2004, Rutger & Wing 2006, McLeod & Wing 2008 and mussels (Jack et al. 2009). The decreased biomass of filterfeeding bivalves could dramatically reduce the capture of particulate carbon (from both phytoplankton and eroded macroalg...