Trophic ecology of planktonic gelatinous predators in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia: diets and prey selection

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Abstract
The diets of most of the gelatinous predators (medusae and ctenophores) in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia (0–25 m) were dominated during the spring by eggs of Euphausia pacifica which formed ∼60% of the total prey consumed by number and ∼75% by biomass. Copepods ranked second, contributing ∼15% of the prey biomass. Barnacle larvae ranked third, with Oikopleura dioica, copepod nauplii, and decapod larvae of minor importance. In contrast, Sarsia spp. fed mostly on copepods and on euphausiid larvae, while Proboscidactyla consumed tintinids and veligers. Prey selection analyses for the 3 most abundant predators (i.e. the ctenophore Pleurobrachia bachei, and the hydromedusae Phialidium gregarium and Phialidium lomae) showed that both positive and negative prey selection were important in determining the diets.

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