Mediterranean fouling communities assimilate the organic matter derived from coastal fish farms as a new trophic resource
2015
Gonzalez-Silvera, Daniel | Izquierdo-Gomez, David | Fernandez-Gonzalez, Victoria | Martínez-López, Francisco Javier | López-Jiménez, José Ángel | Sanchez-Jerez, Pablo | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada | Biología Marina
Currently, the lipid content of fish feeds includes high amounts of terrestrial vegetable oils, rich in n-6 fatty acids and poor in n-3 fatty acids. Sinking organic matter in the shape of fragmented pellets and fish faeces could be ingested by the surrounding fauna attracted to the submerged structures of aquaculture facilities or living in natural benthic habitats. Fatty acids contained in feed pellets were used as trophic markers to shed light on the assimilation and incorporation of aquaculture wastes by the invertebrate fauna associated to sea-cages. Eighteen macroinvertebrate species, and zooplankton, seaweeds and sediments were collected from two fish farms, one of which (control) had not been used as such for two years. This study demonstrates that macroinvertebrate fauna present in fouling can take up sinking organic matter from farms. Further research should be directed at assessing the potential implications of aquaculture production for the surrounding ecosystem.
Show more [+] Less [-]This work was funded by the project FATFISH CTM2009-14362-C02-02 and FPI predoctoral grant from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Government of Spain).
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