• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Marine Biology
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • University of Alaska Fairbanks
    • UAF Graduate School
    • Marine Biology
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of Scholarworks@UACommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    First Time Submitters, Register Here

    Register

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Fatty acid profiles of Alaskan Arctic forage fishes: evidence of regional and temporal variation

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Dissen_uaf_0006N_10373.pdf
    Size:
    8.125Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Dissen, Julia
    Chair
    Hardy, Sarah
    Committee
    Horstmann-Dehn, Lara
    Oliveira, Alexandra
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11122/6083
    Abstract
    Fatty acids, the main components of lipids, are crucial for energy storage and other physiological functions in animals and plants. Dietary fatty acids are incorporated and conserved in consumer tissues in predictable patterns and can be analyzed in animal tissues to determine the composition of an individual's diet. This study measured the variation in fatty acid profiles of three abundant Arctic forage fish species, Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida), Canadian Eelpout (Lycodes polaris), and Longear Eelpout (Lycodes seminudus) across multiple years (2010-2013) and geographic locations (Beaufort and Chukchi seas). These fishes are important prey items of marine mammals, sea birds, and predatory fishes, and as such they serve as a critical trophic step connecting lower trophic-level production to higher level predators. Analyzing forage fish fatty acid profiles across multiple years and geographic locations can provide insight into system-level trends in lipid transfer through the Arctic ecosystem. Fatty acid profiles differed among species, with Arctic Cod having higher concentrations of pelagic zooplankton indicator fatty acids, and Eelpout species containing higher concentrations of indicators for benthic prey. While the two Eelpout species displayed major overlap in fatty acid profiles, differences in individual fatty acids may represent niche separation between Canadian and Longear Eelpout in the Beaufort Sea. In addition to variation between species, fatty acid profiles also differed in Arctic Cod between the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, and among collection years. High lipid content and energy-rich fatty acid classes observed in Chukchi Sea Arctic Cod relative to the Beaufort Sea Arctic Cod may indicate favorable feeding conditions in this region over the years sampled, and high energy density of Arctic Cod as prey. Despite the within-species variation observed, the results of this study suggest that Alaskan Arctic forage fish with different foraging ecology can be distinguished based on fatty acid profile, which could be useful in studies that use fatty acid data to characterize diets of top predators.
    Description
    Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015
    Date
    2015-08
    Type
    Thesis
    Collections
    Marine Biology

    entitlement

     
    ABOUT US|HELP|BROWSE|ADVANCED SEARCH

    The University of Alaska is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, educational institution and provider and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual.

    Learn more about UA’s notice of nondiscrimination.

    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.