DNA-metabarcoding reveals the importance of gelatinous zooplankton in the diet of Pandalus borealis, a keystone species in the Arctic

Information about the dietary composition of species is crucial to understand their position and role in the food web. Stomach content analysis (SCA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA) are commonly used to study marine trophic relationships. SCA can provide high taxonomic resolution but requires taxonomic expertise and frequently underestimates digestible taxa. SIA provides a time-integrated view of the dietary sources but often lacks in taxonomic resolution. The use of molecular approaches such as DNA-metabarcoding may alleviate these problems. Here, we used DNA-metabarcoding with universal primers for cytochrome c oxidase I (COI), to study the diet composition of the Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) from the Barents Sea, a keystone species in the Arctic region with large socio-economic importance. Across locations, jellyfish and chaetognaths were the most important components in the diet of P. borealis, jointly accounting for 40-60% of the total read abundance. This dietary importan...

物种的饮食组成信息，对于阐明其在食物网中的地位与作用至关重要。胃内容物分析（Stomach Content Analysis, SCA）与稳定同位素分析（Stable Isotope Analysis, SIA）是当前研究海洋营养关系的主流方法。胃内容物分析可提供较高的分类学分辨率，但需依赖专业分类学知识，且常会低估可消化类群的占比；稳定同位素分析可展现饮食来源的时间整合视角，但通常分类学分辨率不足。诸如DNA宏条形码（DNA-metabarcoding）这类分子生物学手段，或可缓解上述两类方法的局限。本研究采用针对细胞色素c氧化酶亚基I（cytochrome c oxidase I, COI）的通用引物开展DNA宏条形码分析，以探究巴伦支海北方长额虾（Pandalus borealis）的饮食组成——该物种是北极地区的关键物种，兼具重要的社会经济价值。不同采样点位的分析结果均显示，水母与毛颚类动物是北方长额虾饮食中最核心的组成部分，二者的总测序读长占比合计达40%~60%。该饮食组成的重要性……