Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding
Lutjanus erythropterus and L. malabaricus are sympatric, sister taxa that are important to fisheries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Their juveniles are morphologically indistinguishable (i.e. cryptic). A DNA metabarcoding dietary study was undertaken to assess the diet composition and partitioning bet...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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NATURE PORTFOLIO
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90912 |
| _version_ | 1848765458672517120 |
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| author | Takahashi, Miwa Di Battista, Joey Jarman, Simon Newman, Stephen Wakefield, Corey Harvey, Euan Bunce, Michael |
| author_facet | Takahashi, Miwa Di Battista, Joey Jarman, Simon Newman, Stephen Wakefield, Corey Harvey, Euan Bunce, Michael |
| author_sort | Takahashi, Miwa |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Lutjanus erythropterus and L. malabaricus are sympatric, sister taxa that are important to fisheries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Their juveniles are morphologically indistinguishable (i.e. cryptic). A DNA metabarcoding dietary study was undertaken to assess the diet composition and partitioning between the juvenile and adult life history stages of these two lutjanids. Major prey taxa were comprised of teleosts and crustaceans for all groups except adult L. erythropterus, which instead consumed soft bodied invertebrates (e.g. tunicates, comb jellies and medusae) as well as teleosts, with crustaceans being notably absent. Diet composition was significantly different among life history stages and species, which may be associated with niche habitat partitioning or differences in mouth morphology within adult life stages. This study provides the first evidence of diet partitioning between cryptic juveniles of overlapping lutjanid species, thus providing new insights into the ecological interactions, habitat associations, and the specialised adaptations required for the coexistence of closely related species. This study has improved our understanding of the differential contributions of the juvenile and adult diets of these sympatric species within food webs. The diet partitioning reported in this study was only revealed by the taxonomic resolution provided by the DNA metabarcoding approach and highlights the potential utility of this method to refine the dietary components of reef fishes more generally. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:34Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90912 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | NATURE PORTFOLIO |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-909122023-05-04T08:07:18Z Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding Takahashi, Miwa Di Battista, Joey Jarman, Simon Newman, Stephen Wakefield, Corey Harvey, Euan Bunce, Michael Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics FEEDING ECOLOGY PAGRUS-AURATUS PREDATION FISH JUVENILES HABITAT SHIFTS GULF BAY CHAETODONTIDAE Animals DNA DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Diet Ecosystem Fishes Gastrointestinal Tract Genetic Speciation Predatory Behavior Sequence Analysis, DNA Species Specificity Sympatry Gastrointestinal Tract Animals Fishes DNA Diet Sequence Analysis, DNA Predatory Behavior Ecosystem Species Specificity Genetic Speciation DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Sympatry Lutjanus erythropterus and L. malabaricus are sympatric, sister taxa that are important to fisheries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Their juveniles are morphologically indistinguishable (i.e. cryptic). A DNA metabarcoding dietary study was undertaken to assess the diet composition and partitioning between the juvenile and adult life history stages of these two lutjanids. Major prey taxa were comprised of teleosts and crustaceans for all groups except adult L. erythropterus, which instead consumed soft bodied invertebrates (e.g. tunicates, comb jellies and medusae) as well as teleosts, with crustaceans being notably absent. Diet composition was significantly different among life history stages and species, which may be associated with niche habitat partitioning or differences in mouth morphology within adult life stages. This study provides the first evidence of diet partitioning between cryptic juveniles of overlapping lutjanid species, thus providing new insights into the ecological interactions, habitat associations, and the specialised adaptations required for the coexistence of closely related species. This study has improved our understanding of the differential contributions of the juvenile and adult diets of these sympatric species within food webs. The diet partitioning reported in this study was only revealed by the taxonomic resolution provided by the DNA metabarcoding approach and highlights the potential utility of this method to refine the dietary components of reef fishes more generally. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90912 10.1038/s41598-020-60779-9 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160100839 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ NATURE PORTFOLIO fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics FEEDING ECOLOGY PAGRUS-AURATUS PREDATION FISH JUVENILES HABITAT SHIFTS GULF BAY CHAETODONTIDAE Animals DNA DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Diet Ecosystem Fishes Gastrointestinal Tract Genetic Speciation Predatory Behavior Sequence Analysis, DNA Species Specificity Sympatry Gastrointestinal Tract Animals Fishes DNA Diet Sequence Analysis, DNA Predatory Behavior Ecosystem Species Specificity Genetic Speciation DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Sympatry Takahashi, Miwa Di Battista, Joey Jarman, Simon Newman, Stephen Wakefield, Corey Harvey, Euan Bunce, Michael Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title | Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title_full | Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title_fullStr | Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title_short | Partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (Lutjanidae) based on DNA metabarcoding |
| title_sort | partitioning of diet between species and life history stages of sympatric and cryptic snappers (lutjanidae) based on dna metabarcoding |
| topic | Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics FEEDING ECOLOGY PAGRUS-AURATUS PREDATION FISH JUVENILES HABITAT SHIFTS GULF BAY CHAETODONTIDAE Animals DNA DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Diet Ecosystem Fishes Gastrointestinal Tract Genetic Speciation Predatory Behavior Sequence Analysis, DNA Species Specificity Sympatry Gastrointestinal Tract Animals Fishes DNA Diet Sequence Analysis, DNA Predatory Behavior Ecosystem Species Specificity Genetic Speciation DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic Sympatry |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160101508 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90912 |