German researchers discover that fish in Greenland consume more jellyfish than previously assumed

Published 2024년 8월 14일

Tridge summary

A recent study by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Thünen Institute, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, challenges the long-held assumption that jellyfish are a non-nutritious food source for predatory fish. The research, which analyzed the dietary habits of seven fish species in Greenlandic waters using DNA metabarcoding, found that jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton make up a significant portion of the food source for the greater silver smelt and northern wolffish. This discovery highlights the need to reevaluate the role of jellyfish in marine food webs, especially in the context of climate change, which is likely to expand their range further north. The study underscores the importance of trophic studies to better understand the complex interplay within subpolar ecosystems.

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Original content

For a long time, scientists assumed that jellyfish were a dead-end food source for predatory fish. However, a team from the Alfred Wegener Institute together with the Thünen Institute has now discovered that fish in Greenland waters do indeed feed on jellyfish.In two of the analyzed species, they even made up the majority of the food source, as the researchers describe in a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.The results suggest that the role of jellyfish as prey in marine food webs should be reconsidered, especially since they could be profiting from climate change and spreading farther and farther north.Jellyfish are found in all oceans, from polar to tropical regions. In the future, gelatinous zooplankton could spread even further, as it is generally one of the winners of climate change. Unlike other species, jellyfish are able to better cope with the fact that the global oceans are becoming warmer and more acidic."Therefore, it is important that we ...

Source: Phys