Consistencies in the dietary and isotopic niche of spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, across a salinity gradient within a coastal Louisiana estuary

• DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15810
• Publication Date: 2024-07-05T00:20:30Z
• Authors: Pamela S. D. MacRae; Micah Russell; James H. Cowan; Brian Fry; Sydney Moyo; Michael J. Polito
• Keywords: Sciaenidae

Estuaries are essential habitats for recreational and commercial fish that shaped by both natural anthropogenic processes. In Louisiana a combination of climate change planned coastal restoration actions is predicted to increase freshwater introduction estuaries. As such there need quantify the relationships between estuarine ecology salinity aid in predicting how species will respond shifts salinity. We investigated relative abundance dietary niches adult (24.5 ± 5.4 cm standard length) spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus across varying regimes (oligohaline, mesohaline, polyhaline) within Barataria Bay, Louisiana, using net sampling gut content stable isotopes analysis. found C. was lowest at oligohaline site, translating approximately five fewer captured every single psu decrease site's average annual contrast, we diets and, lesser extent, isotopic had high degree overlap sites with differing regimes. Fish penaeid shrimp were most common important prey taxa recovered from guts all sites. The small differences among likely due spatial variation hydrogeochemical baselines, observed provides support idea move adjacent forage throughout Bay. Our results contribute greater understanding preference trophic can their responses future habitat changes Bay associated actions.