Molecular approach indicates consumption of jellyfish by commercially important fish species in a coastal Mediterranean lagoon

Marques, Raquel; Darnaude, Audrey M.; Crochemore, Sandrine; Bouvier, Corinne; Bonnet, Delphine

doi:10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104787

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Biochemical (stable isotope or fatty acid analysis) or genetic probes may be used to alleviate some of the underreporting of gelatinous tissue in fish predator stomachs (e.g. van der Bank et al 2011, Cardona et al 2012, D'Ambra et al 2015, Lamb et al 2017, Marques et al 2019); however, these methods generate binary data and cannot be used to determine magnitude (e.g. percent by number or weight: %N, %W).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demersal fish predators of gelatinous zooplankton in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Brodeur

Buckley

Lang

et al. 2021

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Historically, gelatinous zooplankton have been considered important consumers or predators in marine food webs, but more recently they have also been recognized as important prey for many marine species. Here, we summarized data obtained from >100 Northeast Pacific fish predators based on extensive gut content analysis (~450000 stomachs examined) from broad-scale demersal trawl surveys ranging from the Bering Sea to Southern California. In the Bering Sea, we identified 27 predators on jellyfish and 23 on urochordates. In the Aleutian Islands, 14 and 18 predators were identified, respectively, and for the Gulf of Alaska, a total of 23 and 32 such predators were documented. Off the West Coast of the contiguous USA, we identified 16 coelenterate predators and 7 urochordate predators. Many of these predators were not previously known to prey on gelatinous zooplankton. Dominant consumers of coelenterates include prowfish, rockfishes, walleye pollock, sablefish, and grenadiers, and primary consumers of urochordates included rockfishes, Atka mackerel, and sablefish. Pronounced seasonal and interannual variability in gelatinous taxa occurrence was observed in several dominant fish predators. The occurrence of jellyfish prey was generally much higher in diets of fishes examined fresh at sea when compared with diets of the same species examined in the laboratory following preservation. Differences in occurrence were less pronounced with the more durable urochordate prey. We suggest that many existing estimates of predation on easily dissolved gelatinous prey may underestimate the true predation rate and the importance of these organisms in marine food webs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demersal fish predators of gelatinous zooplankton in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Brodeur

Buckley

Lang

et al. 2021

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…fishes: 14.8–39.3 kJ g −1 DW, crustaceans: 7.1–25.3 kJ g −1 DW, squid: 16.2–24.0 kJ g −1 DW; Schaafsma et al., 2018 ) owing to their high inorganic content. Despite their low energy content, recent studies have shown that jellyfish are consumed by many organisms throughout the marine food chain ( Marques et al., 2019 ). Their high water content allows jellyfish biomass to be quickly digested (e.g.…”

Section: Ecological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Similarities between the biochemical composition of jellyfish body and mucus

Hubot

Giering

Lucas

2022

Journal of Plankton Research

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Recognition of the importance of jellyfish in marine ecosystems is growing. Yet, the biochemical composition of the mucus that jellyfish constantly excrete is poorly characterized. Here we analyzed the macromolecular (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) and elemental (carbon and nitrogen) composition of the body and mucus of five scyphozoan jellyfish species (Aurelia aurita, Chrysaora fulgida, Chrysaora pacifica, Eupilema inexpectata and Rhizostoma pulmo). We found that the relative contribution of the different macromolecules and elements in the jellyfish body and mucus was similar across all species, with protein being the major component in all samples (81 ± 4% of macromolecules; 3.6 ± 3.1% of dry weight, DW) followed by lipids (13 ± 4% of macromolecules; 0.5 ± 0.4%DW) and carbohydrates (6 ± 3% of macromolecules; 0.3 ± 0.4%DW). The energy content of the jellyfish matter ranged from 0.2 to 3.1 KJ g−1 DW. Carbon and nitrogen content was 3.7 ± 3.0 and 1.0 ± 0.8%DW, respectively. The average ratios of protein:lipid:carbohydrate and carbon:nitrogen for all samples were 14.6:2.3:1 and 3.8:1, respectively. Our study highlights the biochemical similarity between the jellyfish body and mucus and provides convenient and valuable ratios to support the integration of jellyfish into trophic and biogeochemical models.

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“…These high-throughput amplicon sequencing technologies have extremely high detection sensitivity and bypass the biases posed by visual methods. Recently, the application of DNA metabarcoding to marine predator gut contents has demonstrated the capacity of these methods to detect gelatinous prey [18][19][20][21][22]. In the study of gelatinous zooplankton as consumers, this technology has only been applied to assess the microbial diet of the tunicate Salpa thompsoni [23], the predatory diet of the scyphomedusa Aurelia coerulea [24], and the diet of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the secret diets of siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) using DNA metabarcoding

et al. 2022

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Siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) are abundant and diverse gelatinous predators in open-ocean ecosystems. Due to limited access to the midwater, little is known about the diets of most deep-dwelling gelatinous species, which constrains our understanding of food-web structure and nutrient flow in these vast ecosystems. Visual gut-content methods can rarely identify soft-bodied rapidly-digested prey, while observations from submersibles often overlook small prey items. These methods have been differentially applied to shallow and deep siphonophore taxa, confounding habitat and methodological biases. DNA metabarcoding can be used to assess both shallow and deep species’ diets under a common methodological framework, since it can detect both small and gelatinous prey. We (1) further characterized the diets of open-ocean siphonophores using DNA metabarcoding, (2) compared the prey detected by visual and molecular methods to evaluate their technical biases, and (3) evaluated tentacle-based predictions of diet. To do this, we performed DNA metabarcoding analyses on the gut contents of 39 siphonophore species across depths to describe their diets, using six barcode regions along the 18S gene. Taxonomic identifications were assigned using public databases combined with local zooplankton sequences. We identified 55 unique prey items, including crustaceans, gelatinous animals, and fish across 47 siphonophore specimens in 24 species. We reported 29 novel predator-prey interactions, among them the first insights into the diets of nine siphonophore species, many of which were congruent with the dietary predictions based on tentilla morphology. Our analyses detected both small and gelatinous prey taxa underrepresented by visual methods in species from both shallow and deep habitats, indicating that siphonophores play similar trophic roles across depth habitats. We also reveal hidden links between siphonophores and filter-feeders near the base of the food web. This study expands our understanding of the ecological roles of siphonophores in the open ocean, their trophic roles within the ‘jelly-web’, and the importance of their diversity for nutrient flow and ecosystem functioning. Understanding these inconspicuous yet ubiquitous predator-prey interactions is critical to predict the impacts of climate change, overfishing, and conservation policies on oceanic ecosystems.

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Molecular approach indicates consumption of jellyfish by commercially important fish species in a coastal Mediterranean lagoon

Cited by 8 publications

References 62 publications

Demersal fish predators of gelatinous zooplankton in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Demersal fish predators of gelatinous zooplankton in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

Similarities between the biochemical composition of jellyfish body and mucus

Characterizing the secret diets of siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) using DNA metabarcoding

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