Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

‘Are fish what they eat’ all year round?

  • Stable Isotopes Issue
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Isotope turnover in muscle of ectotherms depends primarily on growth rather than on metabolic replacement. Ectotherms, such as fish, have a discontinuous pattern of growth over the year, so the isotopic signature of muscle (δ13C and δ15N) may only reflect food consumed during periods of growth. In contrast, the liver is a regulatory tissue, with a continuous protein turnover. Therefore, the isotopic composition of liver should respond year round to changes in the isotopic signature of food sources. Therefore, we predicted that (1) Whitefish in Lake Geneva would have larger seasonal variation in the isotopic variation of the liver compared to that of the muscle tissue, and (2) the isotope composition of fish muscle would reflect a long-term image of the isotope composition of the food consumed only throughout the growth period. To test these expectations, we compared the isotope compositions of Whitefish muscle, liver and food in a 20-month study. We found that the seasonal amplitude of isotope variation was two to three times higher in liver compared to muscle tissue. During the autumn and winter, when growth was limited, only the isotopic signature of liver responded to changes in the isotope composition of the food sources. The δ13C and δ15N of muscle tissue only reflected the food consumed during the spring and summer growth period.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams TS, Sterner RW (2000) The effects of dietary nitrogen content on the trophic level δ15N enrichment. Limnol Oceanogr 45:601–607

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bruslé J, Quignard J-P (2001) Biologie des poissons d’eaux douces européens. Technique et Documentation, Londres Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Caranhac F (1999) Modélisation de la dynamique de populations piscicoles exploitées intégrant la variabilité annuelle de croissance : applications aux corégones (Coregonus lavaretus) du lac d’Annecy. Thesis Claude Bernard University, Lyon, p 276

  • Conover WJ (1980) Practical nonparametric statistics, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • De Niro M, Epstein S (1978) Influence of the diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 42:495–506

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Doucett RR, Booth RK, Power G, McKinley RS (1999) Effects of the spawning migration on the nutritional status of anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): insights from stable-isotope analysis. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 56:2172–2180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufour E (1999) Implications paléoenvironnementales et paléoalimentaires des abondances isotopiques en Carbone et Azote des poissons téléostéens. Thesis Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, p 197

  • Frazer TK, Ross RM, Quetin LB, Montoya JP (1997) Turnover of carbon and nitrogen during growth of larval krill, Euphausia superba Dana: a stable isotope approach. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 212:259–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gannes LZ, O’Brien DM, Martinez Del Rio C (1997) Stable isotopes in animal ecology: assumptions, caveats, and a call for more laboratory experiments. Ecology 78:1271–1276

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerdeaux D, Hamelet V (2001) Régime alimentaire des corégones et des gardons du Léman, en milieu pélagique, campagne 2000. In: CIPEL (ed) Rapports sur les études et recherches entreprises dans le bassin lémanique, Lausanne, pp 137–143

  • Herzka SZ, Holt GJ (2000) Changes in isotopic composition of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) larvae in response to dietary shifts: potential applications to settlement studies. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 57:137–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesslein RH, Hallard KA, Ramlal P (1993) Replacement of sulfur, carbon and nitrogen in tissue of growing broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) in response to a change in diet traced by delta 34S, delta 13C and delta 15N. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 50:2071–2076

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • de la Higuera M, Akharbach H, Hidalgo MC, Peragon J, Lupianez JA, Garcia-Gallego M (1999) Liver and white muscle protein turnover rates in the European ell (Anguilla anguilla): effects of dietary protein quality. Aquaculture 179:203–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson KA, Bairlein F (2003) Isotopic fractionation and turnover in captive Garden Warblers (Sylvia borin): implications for delineating dietary and migratory associations in wild passerines. Can J Zool 81:1630–1635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson KA, Clark RW (1992) Assessing avian diets using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes I turnover of carbon-13. Condor 94:181–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobson KA, Sirois J, Gloutney ML (2000) Tracing nutrient allocation to reproduction with stable isotopes: a preliminary investigation using colonial waterbirds of great Slave Lake. Auk 117:760–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyslop EJ (1980) Stomach content analysis—a review of methods and their application. J Fish Biol 17:411–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Insightful (2001) S-Plus 6. Insightful Corporation, Seattle, Washington

  • Johnson BM, Martinez PJ, Stockwell JD (2002) Tracking trophic interactions in coldwater reservoirs using naturally occurring stable isotopes. Trans Am Fish Soc 131:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly JF (2000) Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the study of avian and mammalian trophic ecology. Can J Zool 78:1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurle CM (2002) Stable isotope ratios of blood components from captive northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) and their diet: applications for studying the foraging ecology of wild otarids. Can J Zool 80:902–908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurle CM, Worthy GAJ (2002) Stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in multiple tissues of the northern fur seal Callorhinus ursinus: implications for dietary and migratory reconstructions. Mar Ecol-Prog Ser 236:289–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorrain A, Paulet Y-M, Chauvaud L, Savoye N, Donval A, Saout C (2002) Differential δ13C and δ15N signatures among scallop tissues: implications for ecology and physiology. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 275:47–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mac Avoy SE, Macko SA, Garman GC (2001) Isotopic turnover in aquatic predators: quantifying the exploitation of a migratory prey. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 58:923–932

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mc Connaughey T, Mc Roy CP (1979) Food-web structure and the fractionation of carbon isotopes in the Bering Sea. Mar Biol 53:257–262

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mc Millan DN, Houlihan DF (1989) Short-term responses of protein synthesis to re-feeding in rainbow trout. Aquaculture 79:37–46

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mookerji N, Heller C, Meng HJ, Burgi HR, Muller R (1998) Diel and seasonal patterns of food intake and prey selection by Coregonus sp. in re-oligotrophicated Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. J Fish Biol 52:443–457

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien DM, Schrag DP, del Rio CM (2000) Allocation to reproduction in a hawkmoth: A quantitative analysis using stable carbon isotopes. Ecology 81:2822–2831

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olive PJW, Pinnegar JK, Polunin NVC, Richards G, Welch R (2003) Isotope trophic-step fractionation: a dynamic equilibrium model. J Anim Ecol 72:608–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peragon J, Barroso JB, Garcia-Salguero L, de la Higuera M, Lupianez JA (1994) Dietary protein effects on growth and fractional protein synthesis and degradation rates in liver and white fish muscle of rainbow trout (Oncorhynus mykiss). Aquaculture 124:35–46

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips DL, Koch PL (2002) Incorporating concentration dependence in stable isotope mixing models. Oecologia 130:114–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinnegar JK, Polunin NVC (1999) Differential fractionation of δ13C and δ15N among fish tissues: implications for the study of trophic interactions. Func Ecol 13:225–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponton D (1986) Croissance et alimentation de deux poissons planctonophages du lac Léman : le Corégone (Coregonus sp.) et le gardon (Rutilus rutilus). Thesis Claude Bernard University, Lyon, p 156

  • Roth JD, Hobson KA (2000) Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic fractionation between diet and tissue of captive red fox: implications for dietary reconstruction. Can J Zool 78:848–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tieszen LL, Boutton TW, Tesdahl KG, Slade NA (1983) Fractionation and turnover of stable carbon isotopes in animal tissues: Implications for delta-13 C analysis of diet. Oecologia 57:32–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zohary T, Erez J, Gophen M, Berman-Frank I, Stiller M (1994) Seasonality of stable carbon isotopes within the pelagic food web of Lake Kinneret. Limnol Oceanogr 39:1030–1043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants at the “Stable Isotope Ecology Conference” and two anonymous referees whose questions and comments definitely helped improve this manuscript. We acknowledge Blake Matthews for his comments and editing corrections of the manuscript. This work was supported by the ‘ACI écologie quantitative ’program from the French Ministry of Research.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M. E. Perga

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Victoria, PO Box 3020, Stn CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 3N5

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Station d’Hydrobiologie Lacustre, INRA, 75, Av. de Corzent B.P. 511, 74203, Thonon les Bains Cedex, France

    M. E. Perga & D. Gerdeaux

Authors
  1. M. E. Perga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Gerdeaux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. E. Perga.

Additional information

Communicated by Jim Ehleringer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Perga, M.E., Gerdeaux, D. ‘Are fish what they eat’ all year round?. Oecologia 144, 598–606 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0069-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0069-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation