DNAメタバーコーディング法によるヌートリアのイシガイ科二枚貝類採食解析

抄録

 The stomach contents of six adult female nutrias captured in June 2021 were analyzed using DNA metabarcoding to confirm foraging of Unionoid mussel and other invertebrate animal taxa in the Shirokita cove in the lower reaches of the Yodogawa River, Osaka prefecture. Nodularia douglasiae, N. nipponensis, Sinanodonta calipygos, S. sp., Beringiana japonica, Corbicula fluminea or C.leana. were detected in three nutrias. In particular, N. douglasiae was the dominant on the number of read. Ladybug beetles Propylea japonica or P. quatuordecimpunctata and whitefly (Aleurochiton sp.) were also observed, but these are thought to have been taken in along with plants. N. nipponensis has not been found in the Yodogawa river system, and Corbicula spp. have not been found in the midden of dead shell caused by nutria feeding, which was previously reported. This is the first record of the nutria preying on N. nipponensis, S. calipygos, B. fukuharai, but Lanceolaria oxyrhyncha which was previously reported was not detected. These results indicate that DNA metabarcoding is available for further analysis to clarify the nutria feeding habit including aquatic and terrestrial plants and impact on the ecosystems.