Pelagic food web realignment supports resilient larvae of Southern Bluefin Tuna in a warming ocean

Many of the oceans' top predatory fishes at low to mid latitudes face an uncertain future as their vulnerable larvae deal with higher environmental temperature and reduced productivity associated with climate change. However, ocean ecosystem models that predict a general decline of zooplankton prey with warming and stratification hardly ever account for complexities in pelagic food webs that might make them resilient in providing food resources for larvae. We illustrate such complexities in comparing feeding interactions of larval Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) between two studies conducted 35 y apart in the same spawning region off northwest Australia. In the first (1987), SBT larvae fed and grew at low rates demonstrably limited by zooplankton prey. In the second (2022), feeding and growth were significantly higher despite substantially warmer conditions. The difference reflects a realignment in larval feeding preference from copepods to appendicularians, which allows a more direct and efficient energy transfer pathway from the microbially dominated food web base to higher-level consumers. These findings reset thinking on bluefin larvae feeding preferences, demonstrate high growth on an appendicularian diet up to 30 °C, and align with predictions of appendicularians being an environmentally selected zooplankton category in warming oligotrophic waters.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2026-08-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2601583123
Primary Topic
Marine and fisheries research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Pelagic food web realignment supports resilient larvae of Southern Bluefin Tuna in a warming ocean

Claire H. Davies, Estrella Malca, Karen E. Selph, Rasmus Swalethorp et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Marine and fisheries research
article

Pelagic food web realignment supports resilient larvae of Southern Bluefin Tuna in a warming ocean

Claire H. Davies, Estrella Malca, Karen E. Selph, Rasmus Swalethorp, Claudia Traboni, J.M. Quintanilla-Hervás, Kamran A. Walsh, L.E. Beckley, Michael R. Landry, Barbara Muhling, Michael R. Stukel, Akihiro Shiroza, Raúl Láiz-Carrión, Ricardo Borrego‐Santos, Luke Matisons, Lindsey E. Kim, Alejandro Jivanjee, Sven A. Kranz, Moira Décima, Grace F. Cawley, David Die
article en

Abstract

Many of the oceans' top predatory fishes at low to mid latitudes face an uncertain future as their vulnerable larvae deal with higher environmental temperature and reduced productivity associated with climate change. However, ocean ecosystem models that predict a general decline of zooplankton prey with warming and stratification hardly ever account for complexities in pelagic food webs that might make them resilient in providing food resources for larvae. We illustrate such complexities in comparing feeding interactions of larval Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) between two studies conducted 35 y apart in the same spawning region off northwest Australia. In the first (1987), SBT larvae fed and grew at low rates demonstrably limited by zooplankton prey. In the second (2022), feeding and growth were significantly higher despite substantially warmer conditions. The difference reflects a realignment in larval feeding preference from copepods to appendicularians, which allows a more direct and efficient energy transfer pathway from the microbially dominated food web base to higher-level consumers. These findings reset thinking on bluefin larvae feeding preferences, demonstrate high growth on an appendicularian diet up to 30 °C, and align with predictions of appendicularians being an environmentally selected zooplankton category in warming oligotrophic waters.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 123(35)
Florida State University (US), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US), University of Miami (US), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US), Murdoch University (AU), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (IT), University of California San Diego (US), Instituto Español de Oceanografía (ES), Health Sciences and Nutrition (AU), Central Coast Local Health District (AU), University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant (US), Rice University (US), Universidad de Málaga (ES)
Division of Ocean Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Marine and fisheries research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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