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The Trophic Status of Macrobenthos on the Okhotsk Sea Continental Slope Revealed by Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Compositions

  • MARINE BIOLOGY
  • Published:
Oceanology Aims and scope

Abstract

Stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) in soft tissues of 41 abundant macrobenthic species from the continental slope of the Sea of Okhotsk were determined. The δ15N and δ13С values of invertebrate species and groups studied were highly variable, reflecting the diversity of their ratio compositions. The range of δ 15N values (from 6.8 to 18.3‰) corresponded to four trophic levels: from second (for detritivorous bivalve molluscs) to fifth (for some species of carnivorous gastropods and starfish).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Branch, Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, 690091, Vladivostok, Russia

    K. M. Gorbatenko

  2. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 690041, Vladivostok, Russia

    S. I. Kiyashko

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  1. K. M. Gorbatenko
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  2. S. I. Kiyashko
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Correspondence to K. M. Gorbatenko.

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Gorbatenko, K.M., Kiyashko, S.I. The Trophic Status of Macrobenthos on the Okhotsk Sea Continental Slope Revealed by Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Compositions. Oceanology 62, 806–813 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437022060042

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437022060042

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