Among- and within-species variability in fatty acid signatures of marine fish and invertebrates on the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank, and southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Author:

Budge Suzanne M,Iverson Sara J,Bowen W Don,Ackman Robert G

Abstract

The fat and fatty acid compositions of 28 species of fish and invertebrates (n = 954) from the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence were determined. Discriminant analysis of the 16 most numerous species (n [Formula: see text] 18 each), using 17 major fatty acids, classified species with greater than 98% accuracy and grouped species into three general clusters (gadids, flatfish, and planktivores) with similar fatty acid compositions, and likely, similar diets. A number of species exhibited changes in fatty acid signatures with increasing size (multivariate analysis of variance), which corresponded with known dietary shifts reported from stomach contents analyses. Location effects were also observed among the three major geographical regions and were probably due to broad-scale variations in prey assemblages and phytoplankton composition in the northwestern Atlantic. Despite these effects, within-species variation was still substantially less than among-species variation. Thus, fatty acid signatures can be used to distinguish and characterize fish and invertebrate species in a given ecosystem, as well as to study finer-scale trophic interactions of these species. These data also have applications at higher trophic levels and will serve as a prey database for studying the diets of other fish and marine mammal predators using fatty acid signatures.

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3