Red Noctiluca scintillans is a common heterotrophic dinoflagellate that forms blooms in temperate, subtropical, and tropical coastal ecosystems. The diet of this species plays an important role in its cell growth, development, and reproduction. Because limited gene diversity data are available regarding prey of this species, its diet in Daya Bay during a boreal winter bloom is reported using an integrated approach involving light microscopy, single cell isolation and plastid 16S rDNA cloning, and 18S rDNA V4 and V9 region amplification using isolated cells and environmental DNA as templates with high-throughput sequencing. While conventional light microscopy reveals the diet of this species to comprise Coscinodiscus sp. and Stephanopyxis turris (diatoms), copepod eggs, and detritus, plastid gene diversity identifies a diet comprising diatoms, cyanobacteria, and bacteria, and 18S rDNA high-throughput sequencing reveals a diet comprising 36 eukaryote families (primarily copepods, as well as diatoms, dinoflagellates, Ochrophyta, Haptophytes, Chordata, Cercozoans, Chlorophyta, Polychaeta, and ciliates). Dietary staples include copepods, diatoms, dinoflagellates, Ochrophyta, and Synechococcus. High copepod abundance in prey may reflect their relatively high abundance in environmental seawater. Thus, N. scintillans is generally omnivorous but prefers dominant phytoplankton taxa, including Rhizosoleniaceae, Leptocylindraceae, and Cymatosiraceae (diatoms), as well as Gonyaulacaceae (dinoflagellates). An integrated multi-disciplinary approach provides a more comprehensive picture of N. scintillans diet in Daya Bay, and an improved understanding of this species’ ecological niche and trophic role in marine ecosystems.

红色夜光藻是一种常见的异养甲藻，在温带、亚热带和热带沿海生态系统中形成花朵。该物种的饮食对其细胞生长、发育和繁殖起着重要作用。由于有关该物种猎物的基因多样性数据有限，因此采用包括光学显微镜、单细胞分离和质体 16S rDNA 克隆以及 18S rDNA V4 和 V9 区域扩增在内的综合方法报告了其在北方冬季花期期间在大亚湾的饮食。使用分离的细胞和环境 DNA 作为模板进行高通量测序。虽然传统的光学显微镜显示该物种的饮食包含圆盘藻属。和Stephanopyxis turris（硅藻）、桡足类卵和碎屑，质体基因多样性鉴定了包含硅藻、蓝藻和细菌的饮食，18S rDNA 高通量测序揭示了包含 36 个真核生物科（主要是桡足类，以及硅藻、甲藻门、甲藻门、固定藻门、脊索动物门、尾虫门、绿藻门、多毛纲和纤毛虫）。主食包括桡足类、硅藻、甲藻、苍藻门和聚球藻门。猎物中桡足类的高丰度可能反映了它们在环境海水中相对较高的丰度。因此，闪烁藻通常是杂食性的，但更喜欢优势浮游植物类群，包括根管藻科、细柱藻科和硅藻科（硅藻），以及膝沟藻科（甲藻）。综合的多学科方法提供了对大亚湾闪烁猪笼草饮食的更全面的了解，并加深了对该物种在海洋生态系统中的生态位和营养作用的了解。