Food Webs 10 (2017) 22–25 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Webs journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/food-webs Stable isotopes reveal food web dynamics of a data-poor deep-sea island slope community Oliver N. Shipley a,b,c,⁎, Nicholas V.C. Polunin a, Steven P. Newman a,d, Christopher J. Sweeting a, Sam Barker e, Matthew J. Witt e,EdwardJ.Brooksb a School of Marine Science & Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK b Shark Research and Conservation Program, Cape Eleuthera Institute, Eleuthera, PO Box EL-26029, Bahamas, c School of Marine and Atmosphere Sciences, Stony Brook University, 11780, NY, USA d Banyan Tree Marine Lab, Vabbinfaru, Kaafu Atoll, Maldives e The Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK article info abstract Article history: Deep-sea communities are subject to a growing number of extrinsic pressures, which threaten their structure Received 6 December 2016 and function. Here we use carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes to provide new insights into the community struc- Received in revised form 20 January 2017 ture of a data-poor deep-sea island slope system, the Exuma Sound, the Bahamas. A total of 78 individuals from Accepted 3 February 2017 16 species were captured between 462 m and 923 m depth, and exhibited a broad range of δ13C(9.45‰)andδ15N Available online 12 February 2017 (6.94‰). At the individual-level, δ13C decreased strongly with depth, indicative of shifting production sources, as fi δ15 Keywords: well as potential shifts in community composition, and species-speci c feeding strategies. N did not follow Stable isotope analysis strong depth relationships, suggesting trophic level and depth are not tightly coupled across individuals. We ob- 13 15 Deep-water served ontogenetic enrichment in δ Candδ NforSqualus cubensis (Cuban dogfish) highlighting a shift to larg- Ecosystem er, higher trophic level prey through ontogeny. These data provide the first assessment of food-web structure in Primary production the Exuma Sound, and suggest inherent complexity associated with deep-sea island slope ecosystems. Such ob- Feeding dynamics servations are needed to further our understanding and develop contemporary management plans for these systems. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Rundel et al., 2012), and are becoming increasingly applied to deep- sea systems (Polunin et al., 2001; Pethybridge et al., 2012; Churchill et Deep-sea ecosystems are being increasingly exploited by a multi- al., 2015; Shipley et al., 2017a). Although the majority of isotopic food- tude of anthropogenic activities, such as commercial fishing and mining, web studies have focussed on shallow water systems, evidence suggests which threaten their structure and function (Benn et al., 2010; Priede et deep-sea community structure is highly complex (Portail et al., 2016), al., 2010; Van Dover, 2011). The conservative life histories of many can encompass many trophic guilds (Valls et al., 2014), and is often sup- deep-sea taxa exacerbate exploitation effects, as many are unable to ported by multiple sources of primary production (Newman et al., 2011; quickly rebound from population-based perturbations (Simpfendorfer Reid et al., 2012). Deep-sea island slope communities are of particular and Kyne, 2009). Such effects are likely to drive changes in community interest to managers, as they occur at the interface between productive composition, and structure, as seen in a number of coastal biomes (e.g. neritic and more oligotrophic open-ocean systems. Given their proxim- McCain et al., 2015; Möllmann et al., 2015). A basic understanding of ity to a multitude of potential energy pools, these systems may exhibit a food-web dynamics is essential for predicting the broad-scale impacts unique suite of community dynamics and support a highly diverse of exploitation on deep-sea communities. range of taxa (Suchanek et al., 1985). Despite this, deep-sea island Stable isotope analysis (SIA) of carbon and nitrogen (referred to in slopes are amongst the most poorly represented across the scientificlit- delta notation as δ13Candδ15N) has proven valuable in describing erature, highlighting a critical need to further examine these systems. food-web structure and species interactions across marine, freshwater, The Exuma Sound is a deep-water (~1700 m max depth) inlet of the and terrestrial biomes (Layman et al., 2012; Hussey et al., 2012; Atlantic Ocean, categorised by narrow continental shelves, which drop from 30 m to 400 m at the shelf-break. The continental slope is categorised by rugose limestone outcroppings creating a complex ba- ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Marine and Atmosphere Sciences, Stony Brook University, 11780, NY, USA. thymetry (Ball et al., 1969), which transitions into a featureless sandy E-mail address: [email protected] (O.N. Shipley). benthos at the bottom (Crevello and Schlager, 1980). Data are sparse, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2017.02.004 2352-2496/© 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. O.N. Shipley et al. / Food Webs 10 (2017) 22–25 23 but the system appears to support high megafaunal diversity and abun- N-2 values. The accuracy of the carbon IAEA reference materials was dance (Brooks et al., 2015). Here we use bulk carbon and nitrogen stable such that a two point linear correction was not necessary. isotopes to explore the food-web structure of the Exuma Sound deep- At the individual level, Generalized Linear Models (GLM's) were sea island slope community. We provide the first reported δ13Cand used to determine whether variation in δ13Candδ15N was best ex- δ15N values for a number of species, and explore potential factors re- plained by depth, species, or an interaction between both variables. sponsible for patterns in isotope values across individuals. For S. cubensis, body-size relationships with δ13Candδ15Nwere assessed using least-squares regression. All statistical analyses were performed in ‘R’ (version 3.0; R Development Core Team, 2007). 2. Methods 3. Results Sampling was conducted in the northeast Exuma Sound, off south Eleuthera, the Bahamas (24.54°N, 76.12°W; WGS84), between November A total of 78 individuals from 16 species were captured from the 2013 and May 2014, under permits MAF/FIS/17 and MAF/FIS/34 from northeast Exuma Sound, at depths ranging from 462 m to 923 m the Bahamian Department of Marine Resources. Animal sampling (Table 1). At the individual level, community δ13C, δ15N and C:N ranged followed the requirements of the UK Home Office Scientific Procedures from −10.77‰ to −20.22‰,6.99–13.93‰, and 2.57 to 3.34 respective- (Animals) Act and Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (Rollin ly (Table 1, Fig. 1). and Kessel, 1998). Animals were captured using deep-sea longlines (see The effect of depth (glm, t = −4.62, p b 0.001), species (t = −2.48, Brooks et al., 2015 for detailed methods) and square and cylindrical p b 0.02), and interaction of the two factors (t = 2.57, p b 0.02) all baited fish traps soaked for 24 h. White muscle tissue, which provides proved significant in explaining variation in δ13C, which became more a relatively long-term (weeks to months) indication of diet (Hussey et depleted in individuals at greater depths. Variation in δ15N could not al., 2012) was excised dorsally for fish and eels, and taken from append- be explained by depth (t =0.41,p N 0.15), species (t =1.02, ages for invertebrates. Tissue was then stored at −20 °C prior to SIA. p N 0.15), or interaction of both factors (t =0.81,p N 0.15). For Squalus Tissues were freeze-dried and homogenised prior to polar compound cubensis δ13C (least-squares regression, r2 = 0.69, p b 0.001) and δ15N (lipid, urea and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)) extraction with a (least-squares regression, r2 = 0.26, p b 0.001) both became enriched 2:1 chloroform methanol solution (Sweeting et al., 2006; Churchill et with increasing size. al., 2015). Approximately 0.6 ± 0.1 mg of dried tissue was then weighed into 6 × 4 mm tin-capsules. 4. Discussion All samples were analysed in duplicate for δ15N, δ13C, %N and %C using a Sercon INTEGRA2 stable isotope mass spectrometer (SerCon The wide range of δ13C(9.45‰)andδ15N(6.94‰)valuesacrossin- Ltd., Cheshire, UK) at the Environment and Sustainability Institute, Uni- dividuals suggests a complex food web structure, spanning a number versity of Exeter, Penryn Campus, UK. Values are referred to in δ notation of trophic levels in which biomass may be underpinned by a mix of po- b b 13 following the equation: δ X[(Rsample /Rstandard) − 1] × 1000 where X = tential production sources. At the individual level, δ C became more de- isotopic element chosen for analysis, Rsample = heavy to light isotope pleted in individuals captured at greater depths. Such patterns could be ratio derived from the sample, and Rstandard = heavy to light isotope explained by a number of factors including shifting production sources, ratio derived from the standard (DeNiro and Epstein, 1978, 1981). Iso- or shifts in community composition and thus faunal-specificfeeding tope ratio scales were normalised through Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite strategies (i.e. switching from benthic to pelagic prey) (Trueman et al., for carbon, and atmospheric N2 for nitrogen using IAEA standards of lith- 2014). The major energy pools supporting deep-sea food-web produc- ium carbonate (LSVEC), CH-6 and N-1, N-2 respectively. To determine tivity are poorly defined, aside from oligotrophic open-ocean (phyto- analytical precision (standard deviation), two alanine standards were planktonic-POM) and hydrothermal vent (chemoautotrophic and placed between every 8 samples (n = 162, b0.15 S.D.). Batch precision phytoplanktonic POM) communities. However, a significant proportion was determined with an internal reference of blue antimora (Antirmora of neritic-derived primary production may be transported into deep-sea rostrata) white muscle tissue, which was placed at the beginning and systems at some locales (Suchanek et al., 1985; Sanchez-Vidal et al., end of every run (n = 32, b0.15 S.D.).