Gelatinous zooplankton can be present in high biomass and taxonomic diversity in planktonic oceanic food webs, yet the trophic structuring and importance of this “jelly web” remain incompletely understood. To address this knowledge gap, we provide a holistic trophic characterization of a jelly web in the eastern tropical Atlantic, based on δC and δN stable isotope analysis of a unique gelatinous zooplankton sample set. The jelly web covered most of the isotopic niche space of the entire planktonic oceanic food web, spanning > 3 trophic levels, ranging from herbivores (e.g., pyrosomes) to higher predators (e.g., ctenophores), highlighting the diverse functional roles and broad possible food web relevance of gelatinous zooplankton. Among gelatinous zooplankton taxa, comparisons of isotopic niches pointed to the presence of differentiation and resource partitioning, but also highlighted the potential for competition, e.g., between hydromedusae and siphonophores. Significant differences in spatial (seamount vs. open ocean) and depth-resolved patterns (0–400 m vs. 400–1000m) pointed to additional complexity, and raise questions about the extent of connectivity between locations and differential patterns in vertical coupling between gelatinous zooplankton groups. Added complexity also resulted from inconsistent patterns in trophic ontogenetic shifts among groups. We conclude that the broad trophic niche covered by the jelly web, patterns in niche differentiation within this web, and substantial complexity at the spatial, depth, and taxon level call for a more careful consideration of gelatinous zooplankton in oceanic food web models. In light of climate change and fishing pressure, the data presented here also provide a valuable baseline against which to measure future trophic observations of gelatinous zooplankton communities in the eastern tropical Atlantic. The open ocean constitutes the largest living habitat on earth, but it is also the least known environment (Robison 2004). The basic understanding of oceanic food webs is that primary production via photosynthesis takes place by phytoplankton in the sunlit surface layer. The resulting phytoplankton-based organic matter is then utilized by microbial communities and by herbivorous zooplankton, which are in turn consumed by carnivores such as gelatinous zooplankton, chitinous zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, planktivorous fishes, and juvenile squids (Robison 2009). Energy and matter can further be transferred to higher trophic levels, e.g., large predatory fishes, sea turtles, and seabirds (Carman et al. 2014; Thiebot et al. 2016). Degrading matter from all trophic levels can link to the microbial loop (Caron 1994) and sink to fuel deeper living communities (Chelsky et al. 2016). Within oceanic food webs, gelatinous zooplankton constitute one of the most diverse, abundant, and widely distributed organismal groups (Robison 2004; Condon et al. 2012), *Correspondence: xchi@qdio.ac.cn This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. Associate editor: Kelly Benoit-Bird

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解决果冻网：通过稳定同位素分析评估的东热带大西洋海洋食物网中凝胶状浮游动物的营养生态学

凝胶状浮游动物可以在浮游海洋食物网中以高生物量和分类多样性存在，但这种“果冻网”的营养结构和重要性仍未完全了解。为了解决这一知识差距，我们基于对独特凝胶状浮游动物样本集的 δ13C 和 δN 稳定同位素分析，提供了热带大西洋东部果冻网的整体营养特征。果冻网覆盖了整个浮游海洋食物网的大部分同位素生态位空间，跨越 > 3 个营养级别，从食草动物（例如火体）到高级捕食者（例如栉水母），突出了不同的功能作用和广泛的可能食物凝胶状浮游动物的网络相关性。在凝胶状浮游动物类群中，同位素生态位的比较指出了分化和资源分配的存在，但也强调了竞争的潜力，例如，水母和虹吸管之间的竞争。空间（海山与公海）和深度分辨模式（0-400 m 与 400-1000 m）的显着差异表明了额外的复杂性，并提出了关于位置之间的连接程度和凝胶之间垂直耦合的差异模式的问题浮游动物群。群体间营养个体发生变化的不一致模式也导致了复杂性的增加。我们得出结论，果冻网覆盖的广泛营养生态位，该网内生态位分化的模式，以及空间、深度、和分类单元级别要求更仔细地考虑海洋食物网模型中的凝胶状浮游动物。鉴于气候变化和捕捞压力，这里提供的数据还提供了一个有价值的基线，用于衡量热带大西洋东部凝胶状浮游动物群落的未来营养观察。开阔的海洋构成了地球上最大的生活栖息地，但它也是最不为人知的环境（Robison 2004）。对海洋食物网的基本理解是，阳光照射表层的浮游植物通过光合作用进行初级生产。产生的基于浮游植物的有机物质随后被微生物群落和草食性浮游动物利用，这些浮游动物又被食肉动物如凝胶状浮游动物、几丁质浮游动物、浮游鱼类、浮游鱼类和幼年鱿鱼（Robison 2009）。能量和物质可以进一步转移到更高的营养级别，例如大型掠食性鱼类、海龟和海鸟（Carman 等人，2014 年；Thiebot 等人，2016 年）。从所有营养级降解的物质都可以与微生物循环相关联（Caron 1994）并下沉为更深层次的生物群落提供燃料（Chelsky 等人，2016 年）。在海洋食物网中，凝胶状浮游动物构成了最多样化、最丰富、分布最广的生物群之一（Robison 2004；Condon 等人 2012），*通讯作者：xchi@qdio.ac.cn知识共享署名许可的条款，允许在任何媒体中使用、分发和复制，前提是原始作品被正确引用。可以在本文的在线版本中找到其他支持信息。副主编：Kelly Benoit-Bird