Stable isotope data from reef fish collected at natural reefs sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico from November 2010 – August 2011.

Approximately 50 grams of white muscle tissue was removed from reef fish to perform stable isotope analysis. Muscle tissue samples were dried at 60°C for at least 24 hours, and then ground into a fine powder with a glass or agate mortar and pestle. Mortars and pestles were cleaned with 2% nitric acid and rinsed with Milli-Q water between samples to prevent cross contamination. Ground samples containing between 0.2 and 0.5 g of pulverized dried tissue were placed in sterile plastic centrifuge tubes and shipped to a contract laboratory to perform analysis of d13C, d15N, and d34S with a Europa Scientific GSL/Geo 20-20 stable isotope ratio-mass spectrometer (SIR-MS). The isotopic ratio of a sample relative to the ratio in a standard was reported as a delta value.为开展稳定同位素分析，从礁鱼体内采集约50克白色肌肉组织。将肌肉组织样品置于60℃环境下干燥至少24小时，随后使用玻璃或玛瑙研钵与研杵将其研磨为细粉。为避免样品间交叉污染，需使用2%硝酸清洗研钵与研杵，再以Milli-Q水冲洗干净。称取0.2至0.5克研磨后的干燥组织粉末，装入无菌塑料离心管中，寄送至外包实验室，使用Europa Scientific GSL/Geo 20-20稳定同位素比率质谱仪（stable isotope ratio-mass spectrometer，SIR-MS）开展δ¹³C、δ¹⁵N及δ³⁴S分析。样品同位素比值与标准物质同位素比值的相对差值，以δ值形式报告。