title: Mediterranean fouling communities assimilate the organic matter derived from coastal fish farms as a new trophic resource.
abstract: Currently, the lipid content of fish feeds includes high amounts of terrestrial vegetable oils, rich in n-6 fatty acids and poor in n-3 fatty acids. Sinking organic matter in the shape of fragmented pellets and fish faeces could be ingested by the surrounding fauna attracted to the submerged structures of aquaculture facilities or living in natural benthic habitats. Fatty acids contained in feed pellets were used as trophic markers to shed light on the assimilation and incorporation of aquaculture wastes by the invertebrate fauna associated to sea-cages. Eighteen macroinvertebrate species, and zooplankton, seaweeds and sediments were collected from two fish farms, one of which (control) had not been used as such for two years. This study demonstrates that macroinvertebrate fauna present in fouling can take up sinking organic matter from farms. Further research should be directed at assessing the potential implications of aquaculture production for the surrounding ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: danielgs@um.es.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Silvera
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, Spain. Electronic address: david.izquierdo@ua.es.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Izquierdo-Gomez
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, Spain. Electronic address: victoria.fernandez@ua.es.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: javmaraq@um.es.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Martínez-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: joseang@um.es.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: López-Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Sciences and Applied Biology, University of Alicante, Spain. Electronic address: psanchez@ua.es.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sanchez-Jerez
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D017756:Aquaculture / Q000379:methods*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D017753:Ecosystem; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development; D020387:Food Chain; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D013030:Spain; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D015048:Zooplankton / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D014866:Waste Products
keywords: Aquaculture wastes; Benthic communities; Fatty acids; Fouling; Terrestrial markers