DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines
Diet studies provide base understanding of trophic structure and are a valuable initial step for many fields of marine ecology, including conservation and fisheries biology. Considerable complexity in marine trophic structure can exist due to the presence of highly mobile species with long life span...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2019
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160100839 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90902 |
| _version_ | 1848765455839264768 |
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| author | Bessey, Cindy Jarman, Simon Stat, Michael Rohner, C.A. Bunce, Michael Koziol, Adam Power, Matthew Rambahiniarison, J.M. Ponzo, A. Richardson, A.J. Berry, O. |
| author_facet | Bessey, Cindy Jarman, Simon Stat, Michael Rohner, C.A. Bunce, Michael Koziol, Adam Power, Matthew Rambahiniarison, J.M. Ponzo, A. Richardson, A.J. Berry, O. |
| author_sort | Bessey, Cindy |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Diet studies provide base understanding of trophic structure and are a valuable initial step for many fields of marine ecology, including conservation and fisheries biology. Considerable complexity in marine trophic structure can exist due to the presence of highly mobile species with long life spans. Mobula rays are highly mobile, large, planktivorous elasmobranchs that are frequently caught either directly or as bycatch in fisheries, which, combined with their conservative life history strategy, makes their populations susceptible to decline in intensely fished regions. Effective management of these iconic and vulnerable species requires an understanding of the diets that sustain them, which can be difficult to determine using conventional sampling methods. We use three DNA metabarcode assays to identify 44 distinct taxa from the stomachs (n = 101) of four sympatric Mobula ray species (Mobula birostris, Mobula tarapacana, Mobula japanica, and Mobula thurstoni) caught over 3 years (2013–2015) in a direct fishery off Bohol in the Philippines. The diversity and incidence of bony fishes observed in ray diets were unprecedented. Nevertheless, rays showed dietary overlap, with krill (Euphausia) dominating their diet. Our results provide a more detailed assessment of sympatric ray diets than was previously described and reveal the complexity that can exist in food webs at critical foraging habitats. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90902 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:32Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-909022023-04-27T06:48:13Z DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines Bessey, Cindy Jarman, Simon Stat, Michael Rohner, C.A. Bunce, Michael Koziol, Adam Power, Matthew Rambahiniarison, J.M. Ponzo, A. Richardson, A.J. Berry, O. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ecology Evolutionary Biology Environmental Sciences & Ecology manta rays metabarcoding Myliobatidae prey STABLE-ISOTOPES DIET IMPACTS ECOLOGY FISH REEF CONNECTIVITY PREDATORS JAPANICA PATTERNS Myliobatidae manta rays metabarcoding prey Diet studies provide base understanding of trophic structure and are a valuable initial step for many fields of marine ecology, including conservation and fisheries biology. Considerable complexity in marine trophic structure can exist due to the presence of highly mobile species with long life spans. Mobula rays are highly mobile, large, planktivorous elasmobranchs that are frequently caught either directly or as bycatch in fisheries, which, combined with their conservative life history strategy, makes their populations susceptible to decline in intensely fished regions. Effective management of these iconic and vulnerable species requires an understanding of the diets that sustain them, which can be difficult to determine using conventional sampling methods. We use three DNA metabarcode assays to identify 44 distinct taxa from the stomachs (n = 101) of four sympatric Mobula ray species (Mobula birostris, Mobula tarapacana, Mobula japanica, and Mobula thurstoni) caught over 3 years (2013–2015) in a direct fishery off Bohol in the Philippines. The diversity and incidence of bony fishes observed in ray diets were unprecedented. Nevertheless, rays showed dietary overlap, with krill (Euphausia) dominating their diet. Our results provide a more detailed assessment of sympatric ray diets than was previously described and reveal the complexity that can exist in food webs at critical foraging habitats. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90902 10.1002/ece3.4858 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160100839 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ecology Evolutionary Biology Environmental Sciences & Ecology manta rays metabarcoding Myliobatidae prey STABLE-ISOTOPES DIET IMPACTS ECOLOGY FISH REEF CONNECTIVITY PREDATORS JAPANICA PATTERNS Myliobatidae manta rays metabarcoding prey Bessey, Cindy Jarman, Simon Stat, Michael Rohner, C.A. Bunce, Michael Koziol, Adam Power, Matthew Rambahiniarison, J.M. Ponzo, A. Richardson, A.J. Berry, O. DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title | DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title_full | DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title_fullStr | DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title_full_unstemmed | DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title_short | DNA metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for Mobula rays in the Bohol Sea, Philippines |
| title_sort | dna metabarcoding assays reveal a diverse prey assemblage for mobula rays in the bohol sea, philippines |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ecology Evolutionary Biology Environmental Sciences & Ecology manta rays metabarcoding Myliobatidae prey STABLE-ISOTOPES DIET IMPACTS ECOLOGY FISH REEF CONNECTIVITY PREDATORS JAPANICA PATTERNS Myliobatidae manta rays metabarcoding prey |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160100839 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90902 |