Davis Deidric B, Smith Nancy
Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC, United States of America.
Marine Science, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2025 May 27;13:e19476. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19476. eCollection 2025.
Understanding the trophic ecology of deep-sea communities is central to assessing ecological structure and function, which is often lacking in remote oceanographic environments such as hydrothermal vents. Using stomach content analysis coupled with published stable isotope data, we assessed diet and prey selectivity in two common predators, eelpouts () and crabs (), from a South Pacific deep-sea hydrothermal vent community. Using specimens collected during a cruise in 2007, we found that eelpouts strongly preferred alvinocarididshrimp. This observation is s upported by the Ivlev index, which measures the selection of prey in relation to their abundance or availability. Crabs exhibited a diverse diet, including polychaetes and shrimp, suggesting a scavenging or omnivorous feeding strategy. Due to the lack of intact stomach contents in the crab, we were unable to apply the Ivlev method to quantify its prey selectivity. Our results emphasize the need to combine stomach contents, stable isotope analysis, and other complementary methodologies, to elucidate the role of predators in deep-sea food webs. In sum, our study underscores the importance of direct stomach content examination in revealing trophic relationships in hydrothermal vent systems.
了解深海群落的营养生态学是评估生态结构和功能的核心，而在诸如热液喷口等偏远海洋环境中，这方面的了解往往不足。通过胃含物分析并结合已发表的稳定同位素数据，我们评估了南太平洋深海热液喷口群落中两种常见捕食者——绵鳚和螃蟹的饮食及猎物选择性。利用2007年一次航次中采集的标本，我们发现绵鳚强烈偏好铠甲虾。这一观察结果得到了Ivlev指数的支持，该指数衡量了猎物选择与其丰度或可获得性的关系。螃蟹表现出多样化的饮食，包括多毛类动物和虾类，这表明它们采取的是食腐或杂食性的觅食策略。由于螃蟹的胃含物不完整，我们无法应用Ivlev方法来量化其猎物选择性。我们的结果强调了有必要结合胃含物、稳定同位素分析及其他补充方法，以阐明捕食者在深海食物网中的作用。总之，我们的研究强调了直接胃含物检查在揭示热液喷口系统营养关系方面的重要性。
