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<DIV><STRONG>Journal of Fish Biology</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV class="citation articleInformationHeader"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Article first published online: 8 MAR
2011</DIV>
<DIV id=doi>DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.02925.x</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=articleTitle><FONT size=4>Utilization of stomach content DNA to
determine diet diversity in piscivorous fishes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class="citation articleInformationHeader" id=cr1
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">L. Carreon-Martinez<SUP>1</SUP>, T. B.
Johnson<SUP>2</SUP>, S. A. Ludsin<SUP>3</SUP>, D. D. Heath<SUP>1,*</SUP></DIV>
<P id=publishedOnlineDate><SUP>1</SUP> <EM>Great Lakes Institute for
Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4
Canada</EM><SUP>2</SUP> <EM>Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Glenora
Fisheries Station, R. R. #4, 41 Hatchery Lane, Picton, Ontario, K0K 2T0
Canada</EM><SUP>3</SUP> <EM>Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution,
Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43212,
U.S.A. </EM>*Correspondence: D. D. Heath, +1 519 253 3000, ext. 3762;
email: <!--TODO: clickthrough URL--><A title="Link to email address"
href="mailto:dheath@uwindsor.ca" shape=rect><FONT
color=#007e8a>dheath@uwindsor.ca</FONT></A></P>
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<H4><FONT size=3><STRONG>Summary</STRONG></FONT></H4></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV id=abstract>
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<P>The objective of the study was to validate and apply DNA-based approaches to
describe fish diets. Laboratory experiments were performed to determine the
number of hours after ingestion that DNA could be reliably isolated from stomach
content residues, particularly with small prey fishes (<EM>c.</EM> 1 cm,
<0·75 g). Additionally, experiments were conducted at different temperatures
to resolve temperature effects on digestion rate and DNA viability. The
molecular protocol of cloning and sequencing was then applied to the analysis of
stomach contents of wild fishes collected from the western basin of Lake Erie,
Canada–U.S.A. The results showed that molecular techniques were more precise
than traditional visual inspection and could provide insight into diet
preferences for even highly digested prey that have lost all physical
characteristics.</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>