Bulk carbon and nitrogen, and amino acid-specific carbon stable isotope data of major production sources and biomass-important consumers in Maldivian coral reef fish food webs

The corals, sponge, macroalgae and sea cucumber were collected by hand during SCUBA diving. Pelagic production sources (diurnal and nocturnal plankton) were collected with a plankton net (500 mm aperture, 150 µm mesh) towed at the sea surface at a steady speed of 3 knots for 20 min along the reef edge. The diurnal plankton was sampled at most sites in the inner- and outer-atoll, whereas the nocturnal plankton sampling was confined to two adjacent reefs in the outer-atoll, and two reef sites (Vabbinfaru and Ihuru) in the inner-atoll due to limited access. Most fishes were collected with a Hawaiian sling except the Caesionidae spp from the outer-atoll which were collected by Maldivian fishermen. Carbon and nitrogen bulk stable isotopes of macroalgae, plankton and ground samples (fish white muscle tissues) were analyzed EA-IRMS. Amino acids-specific stable isotope analysis of selected ground samples: AA fractions were analysed by GC/C/IRMS to generate the chromatography of the five essential amino acids (δ13C-EAAs of Valine [Val], Leucine [Leu], Threonine [Thr], Phenylalanine [Phe] and Lysine [Lys]).