Zooplankton metabarcoding
Using next-generation sequencing to unravel oceanic ctenophore diets
Ctenophores in coastal waters are top-class predators, but the diet of ctenophores in the open ocean and the deep sea remains unclear. How much do these animals eat? What is their contribution to global ocean carbon cycling? And just how varied are their diets, actually? I’m using DNA metabarcoding of gut contents collected in situ to try to find out.
A coiled Cestum veneris swims away from the camera, its gut speckled with the remains of its latest prey.
Cestum photograph by Jack Costello. SCUBA photo by Sean Colin