Cross-generation trophic ecology of Dosidicus gigas in the eastern-central Pacific Ocean revealed from isotopic signatures in eye lenses.

To compare the trophic ecologies of mother–offspring pairs of the jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas), we examined carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in the eye lens core and lens cortex from 18 D. gigas specimens collected from the equatorial waters of the eastern-central Pacific. Both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in lens cores were smaller than in lens cortexes. Significant difference in δ¹³C between lens cores and lens cortexes suggested that maternal squid used different habitats as compared with their offspring. Higher variation of δ¹⁵N in offspring than maternal squid indicated that maternal squid have a more general feeding strategy than their offspring. The degree of fitting of the probability density distribution curves of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N and the isotopic niches of mothers and their offspring indicate that these squid have a flexible feeding strategy and that mothers and daughters are spawning in different locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]