Copepods are the main prey for small pelagic fishes. Despite their commercial importance, little is known about the predator-prey interactions and their role in the trophic web dynamics. Traditional characterization of copepods is achieved through microscopy, with the inherent caveats of cryptic species misidentification and lack of specificity for some young stages. In trophodynamic studies, identification of copepods within the predators gut is not easy, specially when the organisms are partly digested and/or correspond to larval stages. Still, this knowledge is key to understand and to provide advice for a sustainable management of the marine resources. Important advances in molecular tools have been achieved to facilitate copepods identification, and several molecular markers have been applied to characterize copepods diversity with different results. However, to date, microscopic identification is still much needed to evaluate molecular procedures. In the case of small pelagic fishes, such as sardine and anchovy, larval diet studies are challenging as they prey mostly on microplanktonic organisms. An integrative taxonomic approach, combining microscopy and molecular techniques, is explored to assess the contribution of copepods and their larvae to the diet of commercially important fish species.

Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucía; Unión Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (P20_00743)

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