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Mesopelagic fish form an important link between zooplankton and higher trophic levels in Southern Ocean food webs, however, their diets are poorly known. Most of the dietary information available comes from morphological analysis of stomach contents (Hopkins and Torres, 1989; e.g. Gaskett et al., 2001; Pusch et al., 2004; Shreeve et al., 2009) and to a lesser extent fatty acid and stable isotopes. DNA sequencing could substantially improve our knowledge of mesopelagic fish diets, but has not previously been applied. We used high-throughput DNA sequencing (HTS) of the 18S ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) to characterise stomach contents of four myctophid and one bathylagid species collected at the southern extension of the Kerguelen Plateau (southern Kerguelen Axis), one of the most productive regions in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean.

Item Type:	Refereed Conference Paper
Keywords:	mesopelagic zone, stomach content, food webs, energy transfer, metabarcoding, jellyfish
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Genetics
Research Field:	Genetics not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
UTAS Author:	Clarke, LJ (Dr Laurence Clarke)
UTAS Author:	Trebilco, R (Dr Rowan Trebilco)
UTAS Author:	Walters, A (Dr Andrea Walters)
UTAS Author:	Deagle, BE (Dr Bruce Deagle)
ID Code:	128579
Year Published:	2019
Deposited By:	Ecology and Biodiversity
Deposited On:	2018-10-01
Last Modified:	2020-01-10
Downloads:	9 View Download Statistics