Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Trophic Diversity Of A Mesopelagic Fish Community., Tracey Sutton, Thomas L. Hopkins, Thomas M. Lancraft

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

To understand the character of prey partitioning in a low latitude oligotrophic region, a composite picture of the trophic structure of a mesopelagic fish community was made from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Two hundred and twenty three species were collected in the area of which I61 species were abundant enough for analyses. Fifteen major categories of prey biomass are identified for diet analyses: viz. copepods, ostracods, amphipods, euphausiids, decapods, larvaceans, salps, coelenterates (primarily siphonophores), unidentified gelatinous prey, polychaetes, gastropods, cephalopods, chaetognaths, fish, other food. Prey partitioning is minimal across major prey categories as the vast majority of mesopelagic fishes …