Biodiv Sci ›› 2023, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (4): 22521.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2022521

• Original Papers: Animal Diversity • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Trophic levels and trophic niches of fish from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea

Shusen Fu1,2, Puqing Song2, Yuan Li1,2, Yuanyuan Li2, Ran Zhang2, Hushun Zhang1, Rui Wang2, Longshan Lin1,2,*()   

  1. 1. College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306
    2. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, Fujian 361005
  • Received:2022-09-11 Accepted:2022-12-24 Online:2023-04-20 Published:2023-04-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: linlsh@tio.org.cn

Abstract:

Aims: The internal structure of the Arctic marine ecosystem is changing and its stability is facing unprecedented challenges due to the influences of climate warming. Since fish are important resources for nutrient transport and transfer in Arctic marine food webs, understanding their feeding habits and interspecific trophic relationships is the key to grasping the changes occurring in the Arctic food web structure and function. This study was carried out to obtain basic biological information about fish in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, as well as to provide reference for subsequent studies on trophic ecology.

Methods: We analyzed the stable isotope ratio, trophic level range and trophic niche width and overlap of fish from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea using stable isotope techniques based on fish samples obtained from the 6th (2014) and 8th to 11th (2017-2020) Arctic scientific expedition trawl surveys by China.

Results: A total of 29 species of 8 families and 21 genera of fish were captured, and the mean δ13C value of all fish samples was -19.36‰ (-23.88‰ to -15.78‰), the mean value of the δ15N value was 16.16‰ (11.80‰-20.37‰), and the total trophic levels ranged from 2.42 to 4.62, with a mean value of 3.74. The results of the trophic niches indicated that each fish species had some degree of overlap with several other species, but most species did not overlap completely with each other and maintained some singularity. Boreogadus saida had the largest corrected standard ellipse area (SEAc = 5.51); Artediellus atlanticus had the smallest width of the trophic niche (SEAc = 0.85).

Conclusion: This present study provides basic background information on the trophic ecology in Arctic seas for further study of the food web structure and an in-depth analysis of the response of Arctic marine ecosystems to climate change.

Key words: Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, stable isotope, fish, trophic level, trophic niche