Highly siloed nutrient pathways fuel meso-predator fishes on coral reefs.

Ecologists have long sought mechanisms to explain the productivity and diversity of coral reef communities while simultaneously seeking to predict the vulnerability and resilience of said communities to environmental change. We used compound-specific stable isotope analysis to examine how different sources of primary production support coral reef food webs. We found multiple lines of evidence for distinct end-member use among three Lutjanid snapper species that are typically considered "generalist" predators and thought to feed on multiple production sources on reefs.