Carroll, E. L.Gallego, R.Sewell, M. A.Zeldis, J.Ranjard, LouisRoss, H. A.Tooman, L. K.O’Rorke, R.Newcomb, R. D.Constantine, R.2019-02-202019-02-202045-2322http://hdl.handle.net/1885/156444To understand the ecosystem dynamics that underpin the year-round presence of a large generalist consumer, the Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni brydei), we use a DNA metabarcoding approach and systematic zooplankton surveys to investigate seasonal and regional changes in zooplankton communities and if whale diet reflects such changes. Twenty-four zooplankton community samples were collected from three regions throughout the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, over two temperature regimes (warm and cool seasons), as well as 20 samples of opportunistically collected Bryde’s whale scat. Multi-locus DNA barcode libraries were constructed from 18S and COI gene fragments, representing a trade-of between identifcation and resolution of metazoan taxa. Zooplankton community OTU occurrence and relative read abundance showed regional and seasonal diferences based on permutational analyses of variance in both DNA barcodes, with signifcant changes in biodiversity indices linked to season in COI only. In contrast, we did not fnd evidence that Bryde’s whale diet shows seasonal or regional trends, but instead indicated clear prey preferences for krill-like crustaceans, copepods, salps and ray-fnned fshes independent of prey availability. The year-round presence of Bryde’s whales in the Hauraki Gulf is likely associated with the patterns of distribution and abundance of these key prey items.Te research was supported by a University of Auckland FRDF Post-Doctoral Grant, Te Hauraki Gulf Marine Mammal Fund administered by the Department of Conservation, and NZGL. Tanks to Andrew Dopheide for technical advice, the crew of Dolphin Explorer and RV Hawere for sample collection, Asela Dassanayake and Emma Scheltema for support with this research.14 pagesapplication/pdfen-AU© The Author(s) 2019.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni brydei)DNA metabarcodingzooplankton surveys2019-01-2210.1038/s41598-018-36478-x2019-01-27This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.