Marine trophic diversity in an anadromous fish is linked to its life-history variation in fresh water

Abstract

We used carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from muscle tissues accrued in the ocean to examine whether marine foraging tactics in anadromous sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) are linked to their ultimate freshwater life history as adults. Adults from large-bodied populations spawning in deep freshwater habitats had more enriched δ(15)N than individuals from small-bodied populations from shallow streams. Within populations, earlier maturing individuals had higher δ(15)N than older fish. These differences in δ(15)N suggest that the fish with different life histories or spawning habitats in freshwater either fed at different trophic positions or in different habitats in the ocean. We propose that, nested within interspecific diversity in the ecological attributes of salmon, population and life-history diversity in spawning adults is associated with variation in marine foraging tactics. These results further indicate that the trophic diversity of sockeye salmon in the ocean may be linked to trade-offs in ecological and evolutionary constraints they eventually experience as adults in freshwater ecosystems.