Syngnathids in the Cíes Islands (National Park of the Atlantic Islands): Distribution and trophic structure of the habitat

II International Congress of Young Marine Research, Málaga, 1-4 October 2019Syngnathids are a family of marine teleost fish that includes seahorses, pipe horses, pipefish and sea dragons. These are vulnerable species, with different levels of protection, which mostly live in association with algae communities (IUCN, 2019). Epifauna associated with algae communities is very important since they are the food pantry for many species, including syngnathids. The knowledge of the trophic organization of a community is fundamental for the study of trophic connectivity and the determination of the trophic position of the species. In the case of syngnathids, there are not many studies carried out, with relatively different results depending on the species, the geographical area and the type of habitat, although certain groups of crustaceans seem to be an important part of the diet. Stable isotopes are used as a non-invasive methodology (avoiding animal sacrifice) that, taking into account the assumption "you are what you eat", tries to determine the trophic relationships and to reconstruct animal diets (Soko lowski et al., 2014). In the case of syngnathids, isotopic techniques were used for the first time by Valladares et al. (2017) to infer the components of the seahorse diet.Study funded by the Autonomous Organism of National Parks which depends on the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (Hippoparques Project, 1541S/2015).N