DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j0rh697
title: Data from: Egg boon fatty acids reveal effects of a climatic event on a marine food web

description: Flow of essential fatty acids (EFAs) through food webs is critical for the
 health of individual animals, populations, and communities. Planktonic
 eggs may play a central role in marine systems because they are highly
 concentrated in EFAs, superabundant, and consumed by a variety of species.
 Previous research suggests that egg fatty acid composition should not be
 useful for trophodynamic studies because it should be tightly regulated to
 meet the nutritional needs of embryos. Eight years of sampling the egg
 boon of the teleost fish red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) provided the
 opportunity to test the hypothesis that extreme climatic events
 differentially alter abundances of prey populations and, ultimately, egg
 fatty acid composition. Fatty acid composition of eggs varied
 significantly among years and three major patterns of interannual
 variation (principal components) paralleled trends in the Palmer Drought
 Severity Index. Each of the first three principal components was related
 to abundances of particular prey (blue crabs, filter-feeding fishes, and
 brown shrimp, respectively) during the spring and summer. Summer
 abundances of blue crab and brown shrimp were most strongly correlated
 with bay salinity 12-14 months earlier. Summer abundances of
 filter-feeding fishes were most strongly correlated with bay salinity 0-1
 month earlier. The delayed responses of crustacean abundances to
 variations in bay salinity likely operate through variability in
 recruitment. The fast connection for filter-feeding fishes suggests a
 behavioral response to changing environmental conditions. The analyses
 revealed changes in trophodynamic flow that were associated with the
 phases of the climatic event. EFA content of eggs increased during drought
 years then decreased in the recovery years, indicating the potential for
 downstream effects on reproductive output, offspring viability, and tissue
 composition of egg consumers. Generally, nutrients move from intermediate
 sized consumers to a larger, higher order consumer (adult red drum). Then,
 trophic flow reverses when the egg boon is exploited by smaller
 planktivores. The analysis also revealed climate-related shifts in the
 degree of benthic–pelagic coupling and pelagic recycling that were
 mediated by the egg boons. This study demonstrates that egg boons can be a
 useful subject for investigations of trophodynamics in marine ecosystems.
description: Fuiman_Egg_Boon_2009-2016_fatty_acid_valuesEach line of data in this comma-delimited file represents a sample of eggs collect from the Aransas Ship Channel. The file reports collection information and the amounts of individual fatty acids (expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids) plus sums and ratios of those variables.Fuiman_Marine_Animal_fatty_acid_valuesEach line of data in this comma-delimited file represents a sample of a marine animal collected from the vicinity of Port Aransas. The file reports information about the sample and the amounts of individual fatty acids (expressed as a percentage of total fatty acids) plus sums and ratios of those variables for the whole animal.Fuiman_Time_Series_Data_2007-2016Each line of data in this comma-delimited file represents one month in a time series that begins January 2007 and ends December 2016. Some data are original (egg principal component scores); other data came from published data sets identified in the publication.