Retention of essential fatty acids in fish differs by species, habitat use and nutritional quality of prey.

Algae-produced long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA; with ≥20 carbon atoms) are key biomolecules for consumer production and animal health. They are transferred to higher trophic levels and accumulated in food chains. However, LC-PUFA accumulation in consumers and their trophic transfer vary with the diet quality and the physiological demand for LC-PUFA of consumers. The goal of this study was to investigate spatial and taxonomic differences in LC-PUFA retention of coastal fish predators that potentially differ in their habitat use (benthic versus pelagic) and prey quality. We analyzed the fatty acid (FA) composition of common fish species, namely roach and European perch, as well as their potential prey from benthic and pelagic habitats in three bays of the northern Baltic Sea. We then assessed whether the fish LC-PUFA retention differed between species and among the study bays with different diet quality, that is, LC-PUFA availability. Our data indicated taxon-specific differences in the retention of LC-PUFA and their precursor FA in fish (i.e., short-chain PUFA with <20 carbon atoms). Perch did not show any spatial variation in the retention of all these FA, while roach showed spatial differences in the retention of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and their precursor FA, but not eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Data suggest that diet quality and trophic reliance on benthic prey underlay the DHA retention differences in roach. Although the PUFA supply might differ among sites, the low spatial variation in LC-PUFA content of perch and roach indicates that both fishes were able to selectively retain dietary LC-PUFA. Climate change together with other existing human-caused environmental stressors are expected to alter the algal assemblages and lower their LC-PUFA supply for aquatic food webs. Our findings imply that these stressors will pose heterogeneous impacts on different fish predators. We advocate further investigations on how environmental changes would affect the nutritional quality of the basal trophic level, and their subsequent impacts on LC-PUFA retention, trophic ecology, and performance of individual fish species.

Dataset on seston and zooplankton fatty-acid compositions, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass, and environmental conditions of coastal and offshore waters of the northern Baltic Sea.

We analyzed the taxonomic and fatty-acid (FA) compositions of phytoplankton and zooplankton, and the environmental conditions at three coastal and offshore stations of the northern Baltic Sea. Plankton samples for FA analyses were collected under the framework of sampling campaigns of the Swedish National Marine Monitoring program in September 2017. Monitoring data of phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass, and environmental variables at each station were extracted from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute database (https://sharkweb.smhi.se/). Monthly phytoplankton biomass at each station in July-September 2017 was aggregated by class (i.e., chyrsophytes, cryptophytes, dinoflagellates, diatoms, euglenophytes, cyanobacteria, etc.). Zooplankton biomass in September 2017 was aggregated by major taxa (i.e., Acartia sp. [Calanoida], Eurytemora affinis [Calanoida], Cladocera, Limnocalanus macrurus and other copepods (i.e. excluding Eurytemora and Acartia)). Environmental variables monthly monitored in January-October 2017 included salinity, concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, humic substances, total nitrogen and total phosphorus. These variables were measured from 0 to 10 m depth below water surface, and the depth-integrated averages were used for data analyses. Seston and zooplankton (Eurytemora affinis, Acartia sp. and Cladocera) FA compositions were analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Our dataset could provide new insights into how taxonomic composition and biochemical quality of the planktonic food chains change with the environmental conditions in subarctic marine ecosystems.

Industrial and natural compounds in filter-feeding black fly larvae and water in 3 tundra streams.

We report concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, novel flame retardants, and naturally occurring bromoanisoles in water and filter-feeding black fly (Simuliidae) larvae in 3 tundra streams in northern Sweden. The results demonstrate that black fly larvae accumulate a wide range of organic contaminants and can be used as bioindicators of water pollution in Arctic streams. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:3011-3017. © 2018 SETAC.