Feeding habitats and trophic levels of Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye in Liaodong Bay based on analyzing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes.

doi:10.13287/j.1001-9332.201604.007

Abstract

Abstract: By using stable isotope techniques, we analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye and its potential feed materials in Liaodong Bay of Bohai Sea, aiming to identify potential food sources and trophic levels of R. esculentum . The results showed that the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values for R. esculentum ranged from -20.27‰ to -23.06‰ (ave raged at -21.33‰), and from 6.82‰ to 10.03‰ (averaged at 8.25‰), respectively. The main food sources for R. esculentum included suspended materials, phytoplankton, fish eggs, zooplankton (≤1000 μm), zooplankton (1000-1500 μm), zooplankton (>1500 μm), among which, zooplankton (≤1000 μm) was the most important food source and contributed 71%-88% of the total food sources, followed by zooplankton (>1500 μm) (6%-19%), zooplankton (1000-1500 μm) (0%-22%), suspended materials (0%-10%), phytoplankton(0%-8%) and fish eggs (0%-2%). A Pearson correlation test indicated that there was significant negative relationship between the diameter and δ¹³C value of R. esculentum (P<0.05), while no significant correlation was found between its diameter and δ¹⁵N value (P>0.05). The trophic level of R. esculentum ranged from 2.79 to 3.88 depending on diameter classes,with a mean valu of 3.28 These results indicated that R. esculentum plays a key role in controlling microzooplankton in the Liaodong Bay, which is significant for providing deeper understanding into the tropic structure of biological communities as well as into the material cycles and energy flow of entire ecosystem in the Liaodong Bay.

SUN Ming, WANG Bin, LI Yu long, WANG Ai yong, DONG Jing, MA Tian yu, BAN Yan li. Feeding habitats and trophic levels of Rhopilema esculentum Kishinouye in Liaodong Bay based on analyzing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes.[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 2016, 27(4): 1103-1108.

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