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ABSTRACT Investigating the foraging ecology and trophic interactions of threatened marine predators is critical to assess how community changes due to anthropogenic activities will affect predator–prey relationships. Two species of threatened coastal dolphins, the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) and the Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), occur off Nosy Be, north‐western Madagascar, in a region where artisanal fisheries are ecologically and socioeconomically important. Here, we investigated the feeding ecology of these two coastal dolphins and their trophic interactions with four other odontocetes using bulk stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis (δ13C andδ15N). Humpback dolphins had significantly enrichedδ13C values, reflecting a preference for coastal/benthic prey. Bottlenose dolphins had a broader isotopic niche, suggesting a broader range of prey and foraging habitats. The overlap in isotopic niche of all six odontocete species was limited, indicating partitioning of resources and habitats. Bayesian mass‐balance isotopic mixing models revealed that humpback dolphins forage primarily on reef planktivores (38.9%) and inner reef mesopredators (20.5%), while bottlenose dolphins had a broader diet, including reef‐associated (15%–32%) and pelagic prey (12%–23%). Our study reveals that the reliance on inshore prey by humpback dolphins may place them in competition with coastal fisheries.
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This content will become publicly available on February 1, 2026
Stable isotopes disentangle niche partitioning and co‐occurrence in a multi‐species marine mutualism
Ecologists have long sought general explanations for the co‐occurrence of ecologically similar taxa. Niche theory explains co‐occurrence via functional differences among taxa that reduce competition and promote resource partitioning. Alternatively, the unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography suggests that co‐occurrence can be attributed to stochastic processes, and thus, presupposes that ecologically similar species that occur in sympatry are functionally analogous. We test these hypotheses using the most diverse crustacean‐sea anemone symbiosis from coral reefs in the Tropical Western Atlantic. δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analyses of six crustacean symbionts that co‐occur around the host anemoneBartholomea annulataexhibit highly differentiated isotopic niche space spanning several trophic levels. As multiple crustacean species within the symbiosis have been documented as cleaners that remove parasites from reef fishes, we extended our investigation into the broader cleaner community. Our stable isotope analyses of cleaners shows that Pederson's cleaner shrimpAncylomenes pedersoniexhibits the highest δ15N isotopic values‐ significantly higher than all other putative cleaner species and consistent with expectations of a dedicated cleaning lifestyle. However, for other species previously described or observed to clean reef fishes, includingPericlimenes yucatanicus, Stenopus hispidusandStenorhynchus seticornis,δ15N isotopic values were substantially lower, raising questions about the degree to which these species rely on cleaning interactions to meet their nutritional requirements. Taken together, our data are consistent with the expectations of niche theory: co‐occurring symbiotic crustaceans have highly partitioned niche space with low levels of functional redundancy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2205567
- PAR ID:
- 10575793
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oikos
- Volume:
- 2025
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0030-1299
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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