Journal of Plankton Research, Vol 21, 1593-1611, Copyright © 1999 by Oxford University Press
L Pedersen, H Jensen, A Burmeister and B Hansen
Plankton community structure was analysed during summer along 65-72
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
The significance of food web structure for the condition and tracer lipid content of juvenile snail fish (Pisces: Liparis spp.) along 65-72{deg}N off West Greenland
Department of Life Sciences & Chemistry, Roskilde University, PO Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark; Present address: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, PO Box 570, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland; Corresponding author
N off West Greenland, The south-north transect
mimics a time span of months in the phytoplankton and zooplankton
succession during the Arctic summer. In the south, the mixing depth was
below the photic zone and the phytoplankton community was dominated by
flagellates. North of Disko Bay (69°N), the water column was
stratified due to melt water, and the phytoplankton dominated by
flagellates and a small amount of diatoms, but with higher biomass and
primary production. The copepod community was dominated by
Calanus spp. and was more progressed in terms of
developmental stage composition in the south. The biochemical lipid finger
printing in the food chain phytoplankton-mesozooplankton-juvenile
planktivorous snail fish (Liparis spp.) confirmed the
qualitative composition of the phytoplankton, and revealed that the
mesozooplankton >400 
m in body size
contained lipids originating from a non-diatom diet in the south, whereas
it showed mesozooplankton lipids originating from a diatom diet in the
north. The C16:1 (n-7)/C16:0 ratio increased from 0.63 to 3 for
mesozooplankton along the transect, indicating feeding based on diatoms in
the north. This ratio was reflected in Liparis spp.
along the transect. The condition of the juvenile snail fish was generally
good (high b exponent) along the entire transect based
on the relationship: total fatty acids (mg) = 0.0008 x standard length
(mm)235. However, the relationship
triacylglycerol:cholesterol was much higher north of Disko Bay, indicating
a much better condition and thereby potential starvation tolerance and
survival in the north. We conclude that the plankton structure along the
south-north transect reflected the yearly succession in phytoplankton with
respect to tracer lipids and that juvenile Liparis
spp. were in a better condition when foraging on wax ester-rich
mesozooplankton, which in turn developed ontogenetically during a
diatom-based spring bloom in the north.
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