Importance of suspended particulate organic matter in the diet of Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The extent to which commercially important Nephrops norvegicus lobsters feed on particulates in the wild is unknown, even though this could be an important way for burrow-dwelling females to avoid starvation during the long breeding season. This was investigated using δ(13)C and δ(15)N isotopic signatures in tissues with long and short turnover rates to provide diet discrimination and compare this between males and females. Secondary objectives examined size-related differences and calculated the trophic position based on the new results. Almost half the diet (47%) was made up of suspended particulate organic matter (POM(susp)) alone. Fish was another important item in the diet, with plankton and invertebrate sources coming much lower down in dietary importance. Significantly more suspension feeding was observed in small or medium sized individuals than large ones in both sexes. However, there were no sex-related patterns, despite females being restricted to burrows for part of the analysis period. Female diet was almost identical to males and POM(susp) comprised a large component of the diet in both sexes. The trophic position was estimated at 2.94 ± 0.16 (mean ± SD), which was at the lower end of the range reported in previous studies (2.60 to 4.32).