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Determining diets for fishes (Actinopterygii) from a small interior British Columbia, Canada stream: a comparison of morphological and molecular approaches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2020

Adam D.C. O’Dell ,
Anne-Marie Flores ,
Marla D. Schwarzfeld ,
Daniel J. Erasmus ,
Daniel D. Heath ,
Dezene P.W. Huber Open the ORCID record for Dezene P.W. Huber [Opens in a new window]  and
J. Mark Shrimpton Open the ORCID record for J. Mark Shrimpton [Opens in a new window]
Adam D.C. O’Dell
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, PO Box 1586, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 0H0, Canada
Anne-Marie Flores
Affiliation:
Ecosystem Science and Management Programme, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada
Marla D. Schwarzfeld
Affiliation:
Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C6, Canada
Daniel J. Erasmus
Affiliation:
Chemistry Programme, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada
Daniel D. Heath
Affiliation:
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada
Dezene P.W. Huber
Affiliation:
Ecosystem Science and Management Programme, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada
J. Mark Shrimpton*
Affiliation:
Ecosystem Science and Management Programme, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: mark.shrimpton@unbc.ca
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Abstract

Analysis of food webs is important for defining functional components of ecosystems, but dietary data are often difficult to obtain and coarsely characterised. We compared three methods of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum); Salmoniformes: Salmonidae) and prickly sculpin (Cottus asper Richardson; Scorpaeniformes: Cottidae) gut content analysis: traditional morphological taxonomy of prey items, genetic sequencing of individual prey items, and next-generation sequencing of homogenised gut contents. Prey analysis of invertebrates by morphological identification allowed order-level classifications and produced ecologically important count and mass data. Sequencing individual specimens provided greater taxonomic resolution, while next-generation sequencing of stomach contents revealed more prey diversity in the diets of both fish species as it was possible to detect prey that were degraded beyond visual recognition. Both fish species exhibited generalist feeding characteristics; however, terrestrial Insecta were a large diet component for rainbow trout. This study demonstrates an efficient approach for prey analysis using molecular techniques that complement traditional taxonomy.

Type
Research Papers
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 152 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 702 - 720
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by The Entomological Society of Canada and Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Subject editor: Cory Sheffield

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