Feeding ecology of black scorpion fish (Scorpaena porcus Linnaeus, 1758) in SE Black Sea region, (Ordu) Turkey

Black scorpion fish (Scorpaena porcus) is an important species for both artisanal and industrial fisheries in the Turkish Black Sea, with 306 tonnes landed in 2017. The diet composition of this species was investigated through the examination of their stomach contents. A total of 621 S. porcus (ranging from 12.79–765.5 g) were caught by trammel net in the south-eastern Black Sea (Turkish waters) from December 2015 to November 2016. The importance of prey items in the diet of S. porcus was assessed using the Index of Relative Importance (%IRI). Overall, the dominant species was the isopod Idotea balthica (52.8%IRI) followed by decapods (38.5%IRI) and teleosts (8.7%IRI). Seasonal variations in the diets were observed, with isopods predominant in autumn (>85%IRI), teleosts in winter (>77%IRI) and decapod crustaceans (>78%IRI) in spring and summer. The modified Costello's graphical analysis evinced a specialist feeding strategy for S. porcus during winter, spring and autumn while a shift to generalistic feeding strategy was exhibited in summer by a limited number of S. porcus individuals.

Effects of temperature on carbon circulation in macroalgal food webs are mediated by herbivores

Warming is one of the most dramatic aspects of climate change and threatens future ecosystem functioning. It may alter primary productivity and thus jeopardize carbon sequestration, a crucial ecosystem service provided by coastal environments. Fucus vesiculosus is an important canopy-forming macroalga in the Baltic Sea, and its main consumer is Idotea balthica. The objective of this study is to understand how temperature impacts a simplified food web composed of macroalgae and herbivores to quantify the effect on organic carbon storage. The organisms were exposed to a temperature gradient from 5 to 25 °C. We measured and modeled primary production, respiration, growth and epiphytic load on the surface of Fucus and respiration, growth and egestion of Idotea. The results show that temperature affects physiological responses of Fucus and Idotea separately. However, Idotea proved more sensitive to increasing temperatures than the primary producers. The lag between the collapse of the grazer and the decline of Fucus and epiphytes above 20 °C allows an increase of carbon storage of the primary productivity at higher temperatures. Therefore, along the temperature gradient, the simplified food web stores carbon in a non-monotonic way (reaching minimum at 20 °C). Our work stresses the need of considering the combined metabolic performance of all organisms for sound predictions on carbon circulation in food webs.

Population-dependent effects of ocean acidification

Elevated carbon dioxide levels and the resultant ocean acidification (OA) are changing the abiotic conditions of the oceans at a greater rate than ever before and placing pressure on marine species. Understanding the response of marine fauna to this change is critical for understanding the effects of OA. Population-level variation in OA tolerance is highly relevant and important in the determination of ecosystem resilience and persistence, but has received little focus to date. In this study, whether OA has the same biological consequences in high-salinity-acclimated population versus a low-salinity-acclimated population of the same species was investigated in the marine isopod Idotea balthica. The populations were found to have physiologically different responses to OA. While survival rate was similar between the two study populations at a future CO 2 level of 1000 ppm, and both populations showed increased oxidative stress, the metabolic rate and osmoregulatory activity differed significantly between the two populations. The results of this study demonstrate that the physiological response to OA of populations from different salinities can vary. Population-level variation and the environment provenance of individuals used in OA experiments should be taken into account for the evaluation and prediction of climate change effects.

Жизненные стратегии равноногих ракообразных в условиях черноморского сообщества обрастания

Рассмотрены характерные черты жизненных стратегий двух массовых видов равноногих ракообразных Idotea balthica basteri (Pallas, 1772) и Lekanesphaera monodi (Arcangeli, 1934), совместно обитающих в сообществе обрастания прибрежной зоны Одесского залива Черного моря. Отмечена сбалансированность межвидовых отношений изучаемых видов в данном сообществе. Их конкурентные отношения носили диффузный характер, отражающий относительно слабые по силе межвидовые взаимодействия. Экологические ниши этих видов перекрывались лишь по местообитанию. По трофическим и временным характеристикам конкуренция между ними ослаблена. Отмечена эффективность жизненных стратегий обоих видов ракообразных, что подтверждается их массовостью в сообществе обрастания Одесского залива Черного моря.