DNA metabarcoding reveals unexpected predator-prey-microbial dynamics in the southern right whale (Eubalaena australis)
Data files
Nov 12, 2025 version files 1.03 MB
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16S-com-matrix.csv
190.55 KB
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16S-sequences.fa
671.35 KB
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18S-sequences.fa
114.38 KB
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Crust16S-sequences.fa
31.34 KB
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metadata-prey.csv
4.24 KB
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metadata.csv
1.52 KB
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prey-com-matrix.csv
9.93 KB
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README.md
2.64 KB
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SRW-diet-microbiome-stats.R
6.50 KB
Nov 12, 2025 version files 1.03 MB
-
16S-com-matrix.csv
190.55 KB
-
16S-sequences.fa
671.35 KB
-
18S-sequences.fa
114.38 KB
-
Crust16S-sequences.fa
31.34 KB
-
metadata-prey.csv
4.24 KB
-
metadata.csv
1.52 KB
-
prey-com-matrix.csv
9.93 KB
-
README.md
2.64 KB
-
SRW-diet-microbiome-stats.R
6.50 KB
Abstract
We used DNA metabarcoding to characterise the diet and faecal microbiome of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis; SRWs) from three calving/socialising grounds and a low-latitude foraging ground. SRW feeding was more generalist than previously documented. Decapods (crab/prawn/lobster larvae) and shrimp emerged as key components of the SRW diet, being detected more frequently and in higher proportions than krill or copepods, their known prey. Whale faecal samples from calving/socialising grounds also included bivalves and parasites, while faecal samples from foraging grounds included a diverse range of prey spanning various crustaceans, jellyfish, and other sparsely detected taxa. A significant correlation between diet composition and faecal bacterial composition was observed, with krill being the strongest predictor of bacterial variation.
The data here includes supplementary information associated with the main article for this study, community matrices for bacterial (16S rDNA) and prey (18S rDNA and Crust16S mtDNA) taxa detected in SRW faeces and R code used to perform statistical analyses.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.83bk3jb6f
Description of the data and file structure
The data here includes eDNA metabarcoding results for the analysis of prey and gut bacterial DNA as detected in southern right whale faeces. Sequencing for the two diet amplicons (18S rDNA and Crust16S mtDNA) was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq X Plus sequencer (2 x 150 paired-end) and bacterial (16S rDNA) sequencing was performed on an Illumina MiSeq Genome sequencer (2 x 250 bp paired-end). Sequencing results for all three amplicons were processed using the Greenfield Hybrid Analysis Pipeline.
Files and variables
File: metadata-prey.csv
Description: Sample metadata including the relative abundance of prey groups (summarised at the level of order) as explanatory variables.
Variables
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Sample_ID
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Site: Location of sample collection
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Year: Year of sample collection
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Migratory_status: Whether sample collected from calving/socialising grounds or foraging grounds
File: 16S-com-matrix.csv
Description: 16S bacteria sample-OTU matrix including taxonomic classification of bacterial OTUs and reads of each OTU detected in each sample
File: metadata.csv
Description:
Variables
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Sample_ID
-
Site: Location of sample collection
-
Year: Year of sample collection
-
Migratory_status: Whether sample collected from calving/socialising grounds or foraging grounds
File: prey-com-matrix.csv
Description: Matrix of samples and prey taxa (combined results from 18S rDNA and Crust16S mtDNA datasets) including taxonomic classification of prey and relative abundance of taxa reads detected in each SRW faecal sample
File: SRW-diet-microbiome-stats.R
Description: R code used to perform statistical analyses on prey and bacterial community datasets.
File: Supplementary-information-SRW-diet.pdf (on Zenodo)
Description: Supplementary tables and figures associated with main article text.
File: Crust16S-sequences.fa
Description: Crust16S mtDNA OTU sequences (crustacean prey)
File: 18S-sequences.fa
Description: 18S rDNA OTU sequences (eukaryote prey)
File: 16S-sequences.fa
Description: 16S rDNA OTU sequences (faecal bacteria)
Code/software
The code included here can be run in R (R version 4.3.1, The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, 2023).
Access information
n/a