Abstract

PINEROS, Víctor Julio  and  CALDERON-CORTES, Nancy. Metabarcoding: a promising tool for studying the trophic ecology of Mexican fish. Rev. Mex. Biodiv. [online]. 2023, vol.94, e944855.  Epub June 26, 2024. ISSN 2007-8706.  https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2023.94.4855.

The role of fishes in trophic dynamics in the aquatic ecosystems has been studied by analyzing fish diet and trophic position in ecosystems using diverse methods (e.g., visual inspection of stomach contents and feces, stable isotopes, DNA sequencing). Thanks to the advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing technology, the use of the metabarcoding method has increased in recent years, proving to have greater precision and taxonomic scope than other methods, and allowing the analysis of a larger number of samples simultaneously in less time. This review describes the metabarcoding method, discusses its advantages and limitations, and presents experimental and analytical alternatives to address such limitations. Additionally, we provide a synthesis of the current state of knowledge of the metabarcoding method applied to the analysis of the trophic fish ecology to understand the scope and limitations of using this method in Mexico.

Keywords : Biodiversity; Barcoding; Diets; Genes; Trophic niche.