Ryan Institute, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Marine and Freshwater Research Centre, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland.
Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 25;10(1):3387. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60367-x.
The extent to which commercially important Nephrops norvegicus lobsters feed on particulates in the wild is unknown, even though this could be an important way for burrow-dwelling females to avoid starvation during the long breeding season. This was investigated using δC and δN isotopic signatures in tissues with long and short turnover rates to provide diet discrimination and compare this between males and females. Secondary objectives examined size-related differences and calculated the trophic position based on the new results. Almost half the diet (47%) was made up of suspended particulate organic matter (POM) alone. Fish was another important item in the diet, with plankton and invertebrate sources coming much lower down in dietary importance. Significantly more suspension feeding was observed in small or medium sized individuals than large ones in both sexes. However, there were no sex-related patterns, despite females being restricted to burrows for part of the analysis period. Female diet was almost identical to males and POM comprised a large component of the diet in both sexes. The trophic position was estimated at 2.94 ± 0.16 (mean ± SD), which was at the lower end of the range reported in previous studies (2.60 to 4.32).
商业上重要的挪威海螯虾（Nephrops norvegicus）在野外究竟会吃多少颗粒物质是未知的，尽管这可能是穴居雌性在漫长繁殖季节避免饥饿的一种重要方式。本研究使用具有长和短周转率的组织中的 δC 和 δN 同位素特征来进行饮食鉴别，并在雄性和雌性之间进行比较。次要目标检查了与大小相关的差异，并根据新结果计算了营养位置。近一半的饮食（47%）仅由悬浮颗粒有机物质（POM）组成。鱼类是饮食中的另一个重要项目，浮游生物和无脊椎动物来源的食物在饮食中的重要性要低得多。在两性中，都观察到较小或中等个体比大个体的悬浮摄食更多。然而，尽管雌性在分析期的一部分时间内被限制在洞穴中，但没有与性别相关的模式。雌性的饮食几乎与雄性相同，POM 占两性饮食的很大一部分。营养位置估计为 2.94±0.16（平均值±标准差），处于之前研究报告的范围（2.60 到 4.32）的低端。
