Temporal variation in prey selection by adult European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Ascaridoid parasites in European sardine throughout the annual cycle: Variability in parasitic load according to host stock features

“… Chaligiannis et al (2012) molecularly identified the presence of A. pegreffii with low prevalence (5.5%), and without signal of infection by the rest of ascaridoids analysed in this study. One potential explanation to this event may be the differences in sardine's trophic ecology among localities, as it has been documented that in the Northern Aegean Sea, sardine's diet is numerically dominated by phytoplankton ( Nikolioudakis et al, 2012 ), while in the Atlantic and other Mediterranean locations most of their dietary energy derives from zooplankton with an occasionally substantial consumption of phytoplankton ( Chen et al, 2021 ). In this way, the lower presence in its diet of the host prior to sardine (copepods and other crustaceans) in the area could be conditioning the intake of ascaridoids.…”

Diet and trophic interactions of Mediterranean planktivorous fishes

“…The larger plankton prey size in the Bay of Marseille was probably linked to the high production induced by terrestrial inputs(Fraysse et al 2014). Mean PPSR values of these three species were higher in the Bay of Marseille (11.50 ± 1.94, 44.83 ± 15.76, and 11.09 ± 3.68, respectively) than in the Gulf of Lion (7.32 ± 6.57, 5.20 ± 1.86, and 6.21 ± 1.61, respectively) during the summer months, possibly due to temporal variation in prey size(Chen et al 2021). It seems important therefore that PPSR comparisons should be undertaken contemporaneously.The diet of S. aurita was similar to that of S. pilchardus in the Bay of Marseille, but presented higher prey diversity and evenness.…”

“…The taxonomic groups of zooplankton found in both fish stomachs and plankton net samples were identified and the number of individuals in each group were counted using a stereomicroscope (Leica M205C) as described by Chen et al (2021). The main copepod groups were identified using the website 'Marine Planktonic Copepods' (https://copepodes.obs-banyuls.fr/en/loc.php?loc=14) (Razouls et al 2005).…”

Spatial variations of biochemical content and stable isotope ratios of size-fractionated plankton in the Mediterranean Sea (MERITE-HIPPOCAMPE campaign)

“…Therefore, without considering the size of the organisms (which is also an important factor in the accumulation of contaminants in biota, in particular, phytoplankton), we can assume that the concentrations of organic contaminants in zooplankton of stations St1, St2, St9 and St11 (which contains more lipids and proteins) may be higher than those in the zooplankton of stations St3, St4 and St17 (which have less lipids and proteins). The biochemical content of the plankton size fractions can change due to variations of the composition of the plankton community and the nutrient inputs linked to the physical and chemical environment, thus affecting the entire trophodynamics of the ecosystem (Chen et al, 2019(Chen et al, , 2021Tedetti et al, 2023).…”

“…In pelagic food webs, body size determines rates of production (Banse and Mosher, 1980), energy requirements (Brown et al, 2004), mortality rates (Hirst and Kiørboe, 2002) and predator-prey interactions (Cohen et al, 1993;Ljungström et al, 2020). The biochemical composition of the different plankton size-fractions provides information on their energetic content, which may influence prey selection (Carlotti et al, 2008Chen et al, 2019Chen et al, , 2021Chen et al, , 2022, while the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N values) of the plankton size-fractions provide information on the fluxes of organic matter within the planktonic food webs (Peterson et al, 1985;Cabana and Rasmussen, 1994;Vander Zanden and Rasmussen, 2001).…”