Journal article
The trophic role of a large marine predator, the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier
Scientific Reports, Vol.7, 7641
2017
Abstract
Tiger sharks were sampled off the western (Ningaloo Reef, Shark Bay) and eastern (the Great Barrier Reef; GBR, Queensland and New South Wales; NSW) coastlines of Australia. Multiple tissues were collected from each shark to investigate the effects of location, size and sex of sharks on δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes among these locations. Isotopic composition of sharks sampled in reef and seagrass habitats (Shark Bay, GBR) reflected seagrass-based food-webs, whereas at Ningaloo Reef analysis revealed a dietary transition between pelagic and seagrass food-webs. In temperate habitats off southern Queensland and NSW coasts, shark diets relied on pelagic food-webs. Tiger sharks occupied roles at the top of food-webs at Shark Bay and on the GBR, but not at Ningaloo Reef or off the coast of NSW. Composition of δ13C in tissues was influenced by body size and sex of sharks, in addition to residency and diet stability. This variability in stable isotopic composition of tissues is likely to be a result of adaptive foraging strategies that allow these sharks to exploit multiple shelf and offshore habitats. The trophic role of tiger sharks is therefore both context- and habitat-dependent, consistent with a generalist, opportunistic diet at the population level.
Details
- Title
- The trophic role of a large marine predator, the tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier
- Authors
- L C Ferreira (Author)M Thums (Author)M R Heithaus (Author)A Barnett (Author)K G Abrantes (Author)Bonnie J Holmes (Author) - University of QueenslandL M Zamora (Author)A J Frisch (Author)J G Pepperell (Author)D Burkholder (Author)J Vaudo (Author)R Nowicki (Author)J Meeuwig (Author)M G Meekan (Author)
- Publication details
- Scientific Reports, Vol.7, 7641; 14
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-017-07751-2
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- Copyright note
- Copyright © The Author(s) 2017. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451327702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Marine & Freshwater Biology