@article{fdi:010065358,
  title = {{S}table isotopic composition of {A}nguilliform leptocephali and other food web components from west of the {M}ascarene {P}lateau},
  author = {{F}eunteun, {E}. and {M}iller, {M}. {J}. and {C}arpentier, {A}. and {A}oyama, {J}. and {D}upuy, {C}. and {K}uroki, {M}. and {P}agano, {M}arc and {R}eveillac, {E}. and {S}ellos, {D}. and {W}atanabe, {S}. and {T}sukamoto, {K}. and {O}take, {T}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{L}eptocephali are the poorly-understood transparent larvae of elopomorph fishes that live in the ocean surface layer throughout the world's tropical and subtropical oceans. {T}heir feeding ecology has been difficult to understand because they appear to primarily feed on particulate organic material ({POM}), which contains few identifiable objects, and there have been few studies on their diets or trophic positions. {T}his study presents the first comparative results on the stable isotope ratios of 7 families of leptocephali in relation to the ratios of 30 taxa of other marine animals and {POM} samples. {T}he carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were analyzed using 50 specimens of leptocephali, 354 specimens of mesozooplankton, cephalopods, fishes, and {POM} collected west of the {M}ascarene {P}lateau in the western {I}ndian {O}cean. {N}itrogen and carbon isotopic ratio analyses indicated that the 12 taxa of {DNA} barcoded leptocephali (>= 15 species) could be separated into 2 groups of species with either higher ({G}roup 1: 9 taxa of 7 families, 25-91 mm) or lower ({G}roup 2: 3 taxa of 2 families, 43-275 mm) delta {N}-15 ranges. {G}roup 2 exclusively included species that reach much larger sizes of >150-200 mm ({N}emichthys and {A}vocettina, 3 species of {A}riosoma-type), whereas {G}roup 1 included {A}nguilla bicolor bicolor, {S}errivomeridae, {M}uraenidae, {C}ongridae (3 species), {C}hlopsidae, {O}phichthidae (2 species), and {T}halassenchelys. {D}ifferences in feeding depths, the types of {POM} ingested by preference or because of different jaw morphology, or the transport of larvae from other regions with different isotopic signatures are possible reasons for the differences between the two groups. {T}he isotopic signatures of 14 taxa of copepods had higher but slightly overlapping delta {N}-15 and delta {C}-13 signatures compared to leptocephali and most crustaceans and other mezozooplankton, cephalopods and mesopelagic fish taxa had even higher values. {T}he delta {N}-15 and delta {C}-13 signatures and composition of {POM} were variable spatially and with depth and may have been influenced by particulates originating from the shallow banks of the {M}ascarene {P}lateau. {T}he two apparent isotopic groups of leptocephali should be examined in relation to their consumption of {POM}, which can include various proportions of prokaryotes, phytoplankton, protozoans, discarded appendicularian houses and other materials, by conducting further studies in different regions and using a variety of techniques.},
  keywords = {{OCEAN} {INDIEN} ; {MASCAREIGNES} {PLATEAU}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}rogress in {O}ceanography},
  volume = {137},
  numero = {{A}},
  pages = {69--83},
  ISSN = {0079-6611},
  year = {2015},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.pocean.2015.05.024},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010065358},
}