Species in the faeces: DNA metabarcoding as a method to determine the diet of the endangered yellow-eyed penguin

Context. Diet variability is a significant driver of seabird decline; however, data on seabird diet composition and trends have been affected by changes in precision and resolution owing to the evolution of different sampling methods over time. We investigated the effectiveness of applying a passive molecular diet method using faeces obtained from the endangered yellow-eyed penguin. Aims. To assess the feasibility of applying DNA metabarcoding methods to yellow-eyed penguin faeces to evaluate diet, and to compare the reliability of diet results derived from adults and chicks, and from latrine versus fresh faecal samples. Methods. We collected 313 faecal samples from yellow-eyed penguins resident on the Otago coast of New Zealand from October 2016 to August 2017. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with mitochondrial 16S cephalopod and chordate primers to amplify prey DNA present in the faecal samples, and tested the completeness of our assembled reference databases based on previous diet research. Amplified prey DNA sequences were then assigned to taxa from our reference databases by using QIIME2. Key results. Mitochondrial 16S chordate PCR primers were effective at identifying 29 fish taxa, with 98.3% of amplified sequences being identified to species or genus level in 193 samples (61.7% collected). There was no significant difference in the number, occurrence or proportion of ray-finned fish prey DNA sequences derived from fresh samples or latrines. Mitochondrial 16S cephalopod PCR primers classified 1.98% of amplified DNA sequences as targets, with 96.5% of these target sequences being identified to species or genus level in 48 samples (15.3% collected), and five taxa identified. Conclusions. We recommend the collection of latrine samples to enable long-term monitoring of the diet of yellow-eyed penguins, which will optimise the trade-off between wildlife disturbance and dietary resolution. Further refinement is needed to identify cephalopod dietary components for yellow-eyed penguins, because our cephalopod primers were not as specific as those used for ray-finned fishes, amplifying a large number (>98%) of non-cephalopod species. Implications. DNA metabarcoding offers a robust and comprehensive alternative to other, more intrusive, seabird diet-assessment methods, but still requires parallel studies to provide critical information on prey size, true diet composition and diet quality.