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Stable isotopic analysis of Barnacle larvae and their faecal pellets to evaluate the ingested food

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Stable isotopic analysis of Barnacle larvae and their faecal pellets to evaluate the ingested food
 
Creator Gaonkar, C.A.
Anil, A.C.
 
Subject larvae
food webs
faecal pellets
feeding
isotopes
Balanus amphitrite
 
Description Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are useful in the evaluation of food web dynamics and have been used extensively in the feeding studies. Barnacles are dominant component of the intertidal and bio-fouling communities. Life cycle of barnacles includes planktonic naupliar stages followed by a non-feeding pre-settling cyprid stage. Development success of the nauplii depends on the food available for them in the natural environment. However, the food preference of the nauplii in the natural environment is still not well understood. In this study experiments were carried out initially to assess the sup(13)C and sup(15)N fractionation between the food and the Balanus amphitrite nauplii that were fed with Chaetoceros calcitrans. Laboratory reared larvae fed with C. calcitrans diet pointed out an enrichment in sup(13)C by 0.95 ppt and sup(15)N by 1.42 ppt. The enrichment level in the faecal pellets was comparatively higher than that obtained from the larvae either fed or starved indicating the role of heterotrophic organisms. Expanding on these observations, efforts were made to evaluate the food of the acorn barnacle larvae collected from the wild during different seasons. The delta sup(13)C ratios of the larvae and their faecal pellets obtained during the post-monsoon season were heavier compared to pre-monsoon season indicating the feeding of larvae on isotopically heavier food sources during the post-monsoon season. However, the delta sup(13)C and delta sup(15)N ratios of the larvae and their faecal pellets did not differ significantly between the seasons and this could possibly be due to the broad range of isotopic signatures observed at the base of the food web.
 
Date 2013-03-05T07:28:20Z
2013-03-05T07:28:20Z
2013
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, vol.441; 2013; 28-32
no
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4251
 
Language en
 
Relation J_Exp_Mar_Biol_Ecol_441_28.jpg
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Elsevier. Copyright [2012] Elsevier
 
Publisher Elsevier