Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida) as Prey: Fish Length-Energetics Relationships in the Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay
Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida) as Prey: Fish Length-Energetics Relationships in the Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay
复制标题
北极鳕鱼（Boreogadus saida）作为猎物：波弗特海和哈德逊湾的鱼长与能量关系
作者：
B. Harter;K. Elliott;G. Divoky;G. Davoren
虽然北极鳕鱼（Boreogadus色达）被广泛认为是北极海洋生态系统中顶级捕食者的重要营养链，但在北极进行实地考察的挑战使该物种难以研究。我们建立了一些基本的关系，以改善猎物能量学建模时，只有在现场参数（例如，叉长度）可以测量。我们调查了能量密度，叉长，质量和水含量的北极鳕鱼捕获的黑海鸠和厚嘴Murres在两个站点（西部博福特和哈德逊湾）之间的种内关系。干能量密度在不同地点之间相似（21.6 - 22.2 kJ g-1），并且随着叉长的增加而增加（干EDkJ/g = 0.028（± 0.01）·叉长mm + 18.12（± 1.33））。即使鱼失去了一些水，因为它们被运送到巢的鸟类捕食者，湿能量密度也增加了叉的长度。我们认为，环境条件有类似的影响，在这两个位置的增长，虽然它们发生在非常不同的海洋制度。北极鳕鱼，尤其是大型鳕鱼，是北极地区能量最丰富的猎物之一。我们的研究结果突出了这一宝贵的猎物北极生态系统的重要性，并利用海鸟作为海洋环境的采样机会。
Although Arctic cod ( Boreogadus saida ) is widely recognized as an important trophic link to top predators in Arctic marine ecosystems, the challenges of conducting fieldwork in the Arctic make this species difficult to study. We establish some basic relationships to improve prey energetics modeling when only in-field parameters (e.g., fork length) can be measured. We investigated the intraspecific relationships among energy density, fork length, mass, and water content for Arctic cod captured by Black Guillemots and Thick-billed Murres at two sites (Western Beaufort and Hudson Bay). Dry energy density was similar between sites (21.6 – 22.2 kJ g-1) and increased with fork length (Dry EDkJ/g = 0.028 (± 0.01) • Fork Lengthmm + 18.12 (± 1.33). Even though fish lost some water as they were transported to the nest by avian predators, wet energy density also increased with fork length. We suggest that environmental conditions had a similar effect on growth at these two locations although they occur in very different oceanographic regimes. Arctic cod, especially large cod, is one of the most energy-rich prey species in the Arctic. Our results highlight the importance of this valuable prey to Arctic ecosystems and the utility of using seabirds opportunistically as samplers of the marine environment.