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Scientists studying the diets of 22 species of Hawaiian coral reef fish living at both shallow (0-30 meters) and mesophotic (30-150 meters) depths found that the food source differed for invertebrate-feeding and omnivorous fishes and remained the same for plankton-feeding fishes. Although the sources of food were different between shallow and mesophotic depths, the trophic position or function of the reef fishes remained essentially the same across depths. These results place important constraints on models, such as Ecopath, that predict trophic positions of ecosystem components, that are widely used to manage shallow and mesophotic reef fish populations. [Source: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science]
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