DNA metabarcoding reveals unexpected predator-prey-microbial dynamics in a Southern Ocean predator (<em>Eubalaena australis</em>)

We used DNA metabarcoding to characterise the diet and faecal microbiome of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis; SRWs) from three calving/socialising grounds and a low-latitude foraging ground. SRW feeding was more generalist than previously documented. Decapods (crab/prawn/lobster larvae) and shrimp emerged as key components of the SRW diet, being detected more frequently and in higher proportions than krill or copepods, their known prey. Whale faecal samples from calving/socialising grounds also included bivalves and parasites, while faecal samples from foraging grounds included a diverse range of prey spanning various crustaceans, jellyfish, and other sparsely detected taxa. A significant correlation between diet composition and faecal bacterial composition was observed, with krill being the strongest predictor of bacterial variation. The data here includes supplementary information associated with the main article for this study, community matrices for bacterial (16S rDNA) an..., , # DNA metabarcoding reveals unexpected predator-prey-microbial dynamics in a Southern Ocean predator (*Eubalaena australis*) Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb6f](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb6f) ## Description of the data and file structure The data here includes eDNA metabarcoding results for the analysis of prey and gut bacterial DNA as detected in southern right whale faeces. Sequencing for the two diet amplicons (18S rDNA and Crust16S mtDNA) was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq X Plus sequencer (2 x 150 paired-end) and bacterial (16S rDNA) sequencing was performed on an Illumina MiSeq Genome sequencer (2 x 250 bp paired-end). Sequencing results for all three amplicons were processed using the Greenfield Hybrid Analysis Pipeline. ### Files and variables #### File: metadata-prey.csv **Description:** Sample metadata including the relative abundance of prey groups (summarised at the level of order) as explanatory variables. ##### Variables * Sample_ID * Site: Location...,本研究采用DNA宏条形码技术（DNA metabarcoding），对来自3处繁殖/社交栖息地以及1处低纬度觅食场的南露脊鲸（Eubalaena australis，缩写SRWs）的食性与粪便微生物组进行表征。过往研究认为南露脊鲸的食性特化程度更高，而本研究发现其食性更为泛化。十足目动物（蟹/虾/龙虾幼体）与虾类成为南露脊鲸饮食的关键组成部分，其检出频率与相对占比均高于磷虾或桡足类——这两类是此前公认的露脊鲸猎物。来自繁殖/社交栖息地的鲸类粪便样本中还检测到双壳类与寄生虫，而觅食场所的粪便样本则包含多种甲壳类、水母及其他零星检出的分类群。研究还发现饮食组成与粪便细菌组成存在显著相关性，其中磷虾是细菌群落变异的最强预测因子。 本数据集包含本研究主论文的补充信息、细菌（16S rDNA）群落矩阵等内容。# DNA宏条形码技术揭示南大洋捕食者（南露脊鲸，*Eubalaena australis*）中出乎意料的捕食者-猎物-微生物互作动态 数据集DOI: [10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb6f](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb6f) ## 数据与文件结构说明 本数据集包含南露脊鲸粪便样本中检出的猎物与肠道细菌DNA的eDNA宏条形码分析结果。两类饮食扩增子（18S rDNA与Crust16S mtDNA）的测序采用Illumina NovaSeq X Plus测序平台（2×150 bp双端测序），细菌（16S rDNA）测序则采用Illumina MiSeq Genome测序平台（2×250 bp双端测序）。三类扩增子的测序结果均通过Greenfield Hybrid Analysis Pipeline进行处理。 ### 文件与变量 #### 文件：metadata-prey.csv **描述**：样本元数据，包含以目级为单位汇总的猎物类群相对丰度，作为解释变量。 ##### 变量： * Sample_ID：样本编号 * Site：采样地点……