Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of the endangered white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni): Implications for conservation and restoration efforts","authors":"Stephanie J. Fan ,&nbsp;Taylor R. Smith ,&nbsp;Nasseer Idrisi ,&nbsp;John R. Hyde ,&nbsp;Nicholas C. Wegner","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152107","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152107","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The white abalone, <em>Haliotis sorenseni</em>, is an endangered marine gastropod that has shown no signs of population recovery despite fishery closure and protective status. To better understand the energetic demands, hypoxia tolerance, and critical habitat of this species, we measured oxygen consumption rates over a size range of captive-reared <em>H. sorenseni</em> at different environmental oxygen concentrations and temperatures in comparison to the more common red abalone, <em>H. rufescens</em>. We found that <em>H. sorenseni</em> has a relatively low metabolic rate that likely contributes to generally slow growth that can hamper recovery efforts. We also discovered that both <em>H. sorenseni</em> and <em>H. rufescens</em> appear to partially conform to ambient oxygen conditions by lowering their metabolism to deal with increasing hypoxia while still retaining an aerobic scope until reaching a critical oxygen concentration (<em>P</em>_crit), at which point they become oxylimited. For species exhibiting such relationships, determining the <em>P</em>₉₀, <em>P</em>₇₅, <em>P</em>₅₀, and <em>P</em>₂₅ (dissolved oxygen value at which oxygen consumption is 90 %, 75 %, 50 %, and 25 % of resting metabolic rate), as well as the <em>P</em>_crit and oxygen supply capacity, can provide useful metrics to compare hypoxia sensitivities among species and individuals. Variability in these metrics suggest potential fitness differences for <em>H. sorenseni</em> individuals spawned and raised in captivity for restoration outplanting. Higher temperatures also led to an increase in <em>P</em>₉₀, <em>P</em>₇₅, <em>P</em>₅₀, <em>P</em>₂₅, and <em>P</em>_crit and decrease in factorial aerobic scope for <em>H. sorenseni,</em> revealing the potential compounding effects of high temperature and low oxygen. Our results thus provide a suite of physiological metrics on which to test the health and fitness of captive-reared abalone and can help inform selection of appropriate outplanting sites for endangered <em>H. sorenseni</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152107"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144189878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing biomarkers in common dolphin: Insights from novel blubber cortisol analysis","authors":"Sofia Albrecht ,&nbsp;Sinéad Murphy ,&nbsp;Jim O'Donovan ,&nbsp;Cóilín Minto ,&nbsp;Luca Mirimin ,&nbsp;Orla Slattery","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152112","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Monitoring the health of protected marine mammals is crucial for conservation. Cortisol, a hormone involved in the stress response and metabolism, is a recognised biomarker for physiological states across species. Previous studies assessing blubber cortisol in marine mammals predominantly relied on an extraction methodology using numerous steps with different solvents. In this study, we applied a simplified extraction method from blubber tissue, followed by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to quantify the cortisol content. Assay validations included intra- and interspecific coefficients of variation, as well as tests for parallelism and accuracy. While relatively low and variable extraction efficiencies suggest that protocols still need refinement before future application, our results indicate potential for improvement in blubber cortisol studies. This could lead to optimisation for a faster and more cost-effective protocol. While a decline in the nutritional health of common dolphins in the Celtic Seas ecoregion has been identified based on morphometric data, physiological markers have not yet been applied. To further validate the method and potentially disentangle the multitude of stress factors affecting the species we applied blubber cortisol analysis to stranded common dolphins along the Irish coastline (2017–2019, <em>n</em> = 71). Using generalised linear models with causes of death, body condition, body length, and maturity status as predictors, cortisol concentrations were found to be negatively correlated with body length and significantly higher in sexually immature individuals. The higher cortisol concentrations in younger animals may result from a combination of developmental, metabolic, or stress-related factors, underscoring the need for further investigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152112"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144178049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of ocean acidification and altered prey fatty acids on the early development of northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra) larvae","authors":"Louise A. Copeman ,&nbsp;Michelle A. Stowell ,&nbsp;Jessica F. Andrade ,&nbsp;Thomas P. Hurst","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152111","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152111","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to affect the physiological rates of larval fish and invertebrates and is also expected to significantly impact marine fisheries through alteration of food webs. We examined whether mortality rates, body size, and condition of first-feeding larval northern rock sole, <em>Lepidopsetta polyxystra</em>, were synergistically influenced by prey quality (essential fatty acids, EFAs) and high carbon dioxide (CO₂) exposure. Larvae were exposed to ambient and high CO₂ levels (∼ 330 vs. 1020 μatm) and were fed diets with balanced or unbalanced EFA ratios for 7 weeks immediately following hatch. After 2 weeks, significant effects from CO₂ and diet were observed, with the largest larvae occurring in the high CO₂ exposure group that received a balanced EFA diet. After 5 weeks of exposure, the effects of elevated CO₂ had a diminished impact on larval size, but larvae reared on the balanced EFA diet maintained higher lipid-based condition metrics than those fed an unbalanced EFA diet. Survival was variable across replicate tanks and not significantly different between treatments. This study suggests that <em>L. polyxystra</em> larvae are most vulnerable to OA and food web change at different points in their development. Further understanding of these ecosystem effects will be required to predict the impacts of OA on northern rock sole fisheries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"589 ","pages":"Article 152111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144139470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperature affects growth rates while dietary lipid influences condition metrics in juvenile Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi)","authors":"Louise A. Copeman ,&nbsp;Samantha M. Mundorff ,&nbsp;Michele L. Ottmar ,&nbsp;Michelle A. Stowell ,&nbsp;Mara L. Spencer","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152105","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tanner crab (<em>Chionoecetes bairdi</em>) populations in Alaska have declined since the 1980s. Increasing ocean temperatures have been hypothesized to be a driver of regional crab declines, both via direct thermal effects on their metabolic rates and through indirect effects on predatory-prey interactions and available food quality. Lower juvenile crab energy storage and higher metabolic rates may make early life stages more vulnerable to warming-induced starvation than adults. To characterize the potential synergistic influence of temperature and diet quality (% lipid) on juvenile Tanner crab survival, growth, lipid composition and condition metrics, we collected age-0 crab from nursery grounds in Kodiak, Alaska, during the summer of 2022. We performed an 11-month growth experiment in which crab were reared in individual cells under three temperatures (2, 5, and 9 °C) and on two dietary lipid levels (low and high). Morphometric data were collected within one week of molting and whole-body lipid samples were taken at mid-molt following the second full molt cycle, or at the end of 11 months of culture. Results show that temperature significantly impacted growth and survival, with shorter intermolt periods and high mortality observed at 9 °C. Morphometric-based condition was highly variable and not significantly differ between treatments. In contrast, lipid-based condition metrics revealed that crab fed high dietary lipids had elevated triacylglycerols and total lipids per weight relative to crab fed low-lipid diets. Crab reared in elevated temperatures had higher proportions of sterols and saturated fatty acids than crab at low culture temperatures. Our findings in this fully crossed experiment suggest that increasing temperatures in Alaska waters have the potential to impact juvenile crab populations both directly through accelerated growth and indirectly via declining lipid content available in the benthic food web.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143908191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Negative impacts of pumice drifting on reef-building corals","authors":"Zongyan Shi ,&nbsp;Xiangyu Yin ,&nbsp;Takashi Nakamura","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152104","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A submarine volcano erupted near “Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba” in the Ogasawara region of Japan in August 2021. In November 2021, substantial pumice deposition was observed in the coral reef areas around Okinawa Island. <em>Re</em>-suspended pumice afloat from May to June 2022, coinciding with coral spawning, was observed. The effects of pumice on corals are largely unexplored, prompting this study to assess the potential effects of pumice on the various life histories of corals through field surveys and laboratory experiments. Pumice deposition, particle composition, and direct injuries to the surface of corals were examined in the field between November 2021 and May 2022. The effects of varying amounts of pumice were tested on the embryos and larvae of <em>Acropora digitifera</em>, a dominant shallow-water corymbose coral species. Our results, based on larval morphology and survival, indicate that high levels of pumice can lead to an increased abnormal development of embryos with higher mortality rates. This study provides the first evidence of the direct impact of pumice on the early life stages of <em>A. digitifera</em> and offers crucial insights into the potential consequences of pumice on coral reef ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152104"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143882533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Macroalgae and conspecifics serve as critical attachment substrates for juvenile green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) during different stages of development","authors":"Katherine A. Burnham ,&nbsp;Jenny R. Hillman ,&nbsp;Andrew G. Jeffs","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, there has been a global push to restore shellfish reefs and the array of ecosystem services they provide, but these efforts are met with many challenges, the most common of which are substrate limitation due to habitat degradation and a lack of larval recruitment due to population declines. The restoration of green-lipped mussel (<em>Perna canaliculus</em>) reefs in New Zealand is similarly impeded by a lack of natural recruitment into populations of cultured adults that have been transplanted to the seafloor. To obtain a more complete understanding of the substrates needed to support the attachment of <em>P. canaliculus</em> juveniles throughout their development on mussel reefs, this study characterised the presence of different size classes of juvenile mussels on various substrate types within different microhabitats and intertidal zones on a remnant, intertidal mussel reef in the Hauraki Gulf. Across the reef, early juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> &lt;5 mm in shell length (SL) were present on conspecifics (37 %) and macroalgae (33 %) with similar frequency, but juveniles 5 – &lt;10 mm SL were present on conspecifics (64 %) almost twice as often as on macroalgae (34 %). Meanwhile, juveniles in all larger size classes ≥10 mm SL were present less often on macroalgae (average 4 %) and most often on conspecifics (average 27 %), followed by bare rock and shell for juveniles ≥20 mm SL (average 11 %). These findings indicate that macroalgae serves as a critical attachment substrate for juvenile <em>P. canaliculus</em> during early development, while conspecific substrate supports the establishment of juveniles throughout later development, alongside rock and shell in a lesser capacity. Additionally, for early juveniles &lt;5 mm SL in emergent rock microhabitats, their presence was 31 % higher on macroalgae than on conspecifics in the upper intertidal but 28 % higher on conspecifics compared to macroalgae in the lower intertidal, indicating that juvenile substrate associations vary between locations within the reef that experience different levels of hydrodynamic force, intraspecific competition, and predation. This study offers valuable insights into the early life history of <em>P. canaliculus</em> that can inform mussel reef restoration practitioners of the types of substrates that; 1) may be limited at restoration sites, 2) are likely to be most effective for facilitating recruitment at restoration sites if applied in close proximity to allow juveniles to transition between substrates during ontogeny, and 3) can be used as a selection criteria for future sites, alongside a set of environmental parameters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144072708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parasite aggregations: Females attract conspecific males to the hosts in the ectoparasitic isopod Onisocryptus ovalis","authors":"Fumi Matsubara ,&nbsp;Fumio Takeshita ,&nbsp;Yasuhisa Henmi","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For symbionts of marine invertebrates, migration between hosts for mate-searching entails various ecological difficulties. Aggregation in hosts is a behavioral feature sometimes employed by symbionts to overcome such challenges. This can increase mating opportunities, depending on the mating and sexual systems. In this study, we investigated seasonal bias in the ectoparasitic isopod <em>Onisocryptus ovalis,</em> a protandrous hermaphrodite, toward the host ostracod <em>Vargula hilgendorfii</em> using a two-year field survey. We additionally demonstrated the host preference of male isopods through laboratory experiments. Parasitic isopods aggregated on larger and female ostracod hosts in the field during spring, early summer, and sometimes autumn. In laboratory experiments, male parasites, which can move between hosts, consistently showed a preference for host ostracods parasitized by conspecific females compared to hosts without conspecifics. Male parasitic isopods likely select larger female hosts, which can mainly serve more eggs as reproductive resources for female parasitic isopods. Male parasites, in addition, prefer hosts parasitized by female conspecifics. Such preferences and the sexual system of protandrous hermaphrodites may increase the reproductive success of parasitic isopods under limited opportunities to encounter mates. Therefore, these traits of parasitic isopods would produce seasonal aggregation while being influenced by the life history of the hosts associated with overwintering, recruiting, and reproduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"588 ","pages":"Article 152106"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fine-scale spatial and temporal dynamics of subtidal reef fish assemblages and implications for monitoring","authors":"Stijn Bruneel ,&nbsp;José Ponton-Cevallos ,&nbsp;Lenin Riascos ,&nbsp;Wout Van Echelpoel ,&nbsp;Long Ho ,&nbsp;Andrea Mishell Rosado-Moncayo ,&nbsp;Rebeca Parra ,&nbsp;Rafael Bermudez ,&nbsp;Peter Goethals","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fine-scale spatial (i.e. less than one hectare) and temporal (i.e. less than one week) dynamics of reef fish assemblages are often not properly accounted for in sampling designs, impeding the proper assessment of the effects of broad-scale processes such as climate change and anthropogenic pollution. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the fine-scale spatial and temporal drivers of variability of subtidal reef fish assemblage structure. On the island of Santa Cruz (Galapagos, Ecuador), video transects were used to assess daily, diel and spatial trends in the structure of the observed fish assemblages and environmental measurements were taken to evaluate the effect of water conditions and physical habitat characteristics. Biological variability was explained by physical habitat characteristics, spatial auto-correlation, daily variability and water conditions. There was no significant diel variability although most water conditions showed clear diel rather than daily trends, suggesting that the prevailing water conditions were not important at the studied scale. Fine-scale spatial variability in combination with daily fluctuations of the structure of reef fish assemblages are likely linked to food availability and fish movement. Studies aiming to understand broad-scale processes, while accounting for fine-scale variability, typically rely on labor intensive power and sample size estimations to guide the distribution of sampling effort. However, we show that fine-scale variability can be attributed up to 42 % to spatial, temporal and environmental drivers, thereby indicating that ecological knowledge can be used to select the most appropriate sampling design. Accounting for habitat characteristics and sampling variability, through multiple transects and repetitions respectively, proved most important in the study of reef fish assemblages of the Galapagos.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"587 ","pages":"Article 152102"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A DNA-based investigation of endolithic community succession on shells of the limpet Patella depressa Pennant 1777","authors":"Adam J. Wyness ,&nbsp;Mauricio Oróstica ,&nbsp;Jonathan R. Monsinjon ,&nbsp;Christopher D. McQuaid","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152103","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152103","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biotic and abiotic calcium carbonate structures are used as a substrate by bioeroding organisms, or euendoliths, worldwide. Euendoliths can have serious ecological effects on living hosts, and with global increases in ocean acidification and warming, the efficiency of erosion by marine euendoliths is likely to increase. Here, we used growth curve data for the limpet <em>Patella depressa</em> and 16S rRNA sequencing to explore succession in the endolithic community on the shells of <em>P. depressa</em> throughout its range across Great Britain. Limpet age correlated well with the extent of erosion within sites, but differed among sites, with those at the centre of the host range showing greater erosion when corrected for age. Alpha-diversity and richness of cyanobacteria decreased with the extent of erosion, particularly during the earlier stages of erosion. A decrease in the accumulation rate of Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) occurred at around 80 % of cumulative ASVs, at a shell age of between 1.4 and 2.7 years. Cyanobacterial community composition differed among the shells from the different sites, but despite these differences, there were no discernable patterns in the abundance of specific taxa that were associated with limpet age or the extent of erosion. The results revealed that, when examined at a high taxonomic resolution, cyanobacterial community succession is more complex than previously thought, and may be site-specific. However, the trends observed indicate that cyanobacterial community succession occurs on calcifying organisms <em>in vivo</em>, with a shift towards a climax community after 1.4–2.7 years for <em>P. depressa</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"587 ","pages":"Article 152103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143816670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Flexible foraging strategies of a tropical seabird in the western Atlantic Ocean","authors":"Júlia Jacoby ,&nbsp;Amédée Roy ,&nbsp;Sophie Lanco ,&nbsp;Christophe Barbraud ,&nbsp;Karine Delord ,&nbsp;Leandro Bugoni ,&nbsp;Guilherme T. Nunes","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2025.152099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tropical oceans are typically oligotrophic but can feature productive environments, such as islands, which can promote high prey availability, influencing predators' foraging strategies in time and space. This study investigates interannual and sex-specific variations in the foraging ecology of the masked booby (<em>Sula dactylatra</em>) in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, western tropical Atlantic Ocean. During the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 breeding seasons, blood from birds and muscle samples from regurgitated prey were analyzed for stable isotopes of carbon (<em>δ</em>¹³C) and nitrogen (<em>δ</em>¹⁵N). Simultaneously, birds were tracked with GPS devices and their dives were recorded by pressure sensors and later predicted by deep learning tools to estimate foraging areas. Tracking data revealed foraging areas eastward of the archipelago in all years, potentially driven by the Island Mass Effect. The <em>δ</em>¹³C and <em>δ</em>¹⁵N values varied significantly across the four years, but isotopic niches overlapped, except in 2022. Mixing models estimated the fourwing flying fish <em>Hirundichthys affinis</em> as an important prey source from 2017 to 2019, shifting to false herring <em>Harengula clupeola</em> in 2022. Simultaneously, foraging areas were closer to the archipelago in 2022, with shorter foraging trip duration and length. Stable isotope differences between sexes were occasional, with overlapping niches and foraging areas consistent across years. These findings showcase potential predictability in foraging areas, and also their interannual variability, suggesting shifts in prey availability and distribution around the archipelago. Our results highlight the ecological plasticity of masked boobies in tropical environments and their potential as monitors of fish community dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"586 ","pages":"Article 152099"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143680478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}