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About this collection

Extent

1 digital object.

Description

This dataset provides energy density and energy content measurements for three ecologically important forage species in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE): northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), and market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens). These metrics serve as key indicators of prey quality, a functional trait that influences predator-prey dynamics. Unlike previous studies that emphasize differences between species, this collection highlights variation within species, examining how energy metrics shift across size classes, maturity stages, and environmental conditions. Specimens were collected during spring and summer from central and southern CCE regions to capture spatial, seasonal, and life history-driven variability. By capturing intraspecific variation in prey quality, this dataset helps refine predator-prey models, improve ecosystem-level predictions, and strengthen bioenergetics models that rely on accurate prey energy inputs.

Date Collected

• 2015 to 2019

Date Issued

• 2025

Authors

• Dorval, Emmanis
• Kurle, Carolyn M.
• Nehasil, Stephanie E.
• Zwolinski, Juan P.

Funding

SEN was supported by several grants and fellowships: The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the Jeanne M. Messier Memorial Endowed Fund, the Bloom-Hays Ecological Research Grant, and the Marye Anne Fox Dissertation Year Fellowship.

Geographics

• California Current Ecosystem
• Central California
• Southern California

Scientific Names

• Doryteuthis opalescens
• Engraulis mordax
• Sardinops sagax

Topics

• Bioenergetics
• Domain: Biological sciences
• Energy content
• Energy density
• Food webs
• Forage species
• Foraging
• Functional traits
• Prey quality
• Subdomain: Ecology
• Top predators
• Trophic ecology

Format

View formats within this collection

• data

Language

• English

Identifier

Identifier: Stephanie Nehasil: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0853-0772

Related Resources

Primary associated publication

• Nehasil, S. E., Zwolinski, J. P., Dorval, E., & Kurle, C. M. (2026). Intraspecific variation in prey quality affects the consumption rates of top predators. Journal of Animal Ecology, 95, 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70155

Collection image

• Image credit: iStock. "Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), a key forage species for predators in the California Current Ecosystem."