Natural abundance of stable isotopes in micronekton fish species from the BATHYPELAGIC cruise (North Atlantic, June 2018): carbon and nitrogen values in bulk tissues and nitrogen values in amino acids

The values of natural abundance of stable isotopes were measured in 13 micronekton fish species sampled during the BATHYPELAGIC cruise (North Atlantic, June 2018). This dataset contains the values obtained for carbon and nitrogen in bulk tissues, and nitrogen values in amino acids. Length and biomass data for each individual analyzed are also provided. Fishes were collected using a ''Mesopelagos” net (5x7 m mouth opening, 58 m total lenght) equipped with graded-mesh netting (starting with 30 mm and ending with 4 mm) and a multi-sampler for collecting samples from 5 different depth layers (Olivar et al., 2017). Individual fish were eviscerated, freeze-dried and weighted. Aliquots of muscular tissue (or whole individuals for species of small size) were analyzed in an elemental analyzer (bulk tissues, Olivar et al., 2019) or a gas chromatograph (derivatized amino acids, Mompeán et al., 2016) coupled to isotope-ratio mass spectrometers. Carbon analyses were made before and after removal of lipids with a mixture of trichloromethane:methanol:water.