Stock structure of Sebastes mentella in the North Atlantic revealed by chemometry of the fatty acid profile in heart tissue

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Authors: Joensen, Hóraldur, Grahl-Nielsen, Otto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2004
• Subjects: Faroe Islands; Iceland; North Atlantic; Norwegian Sea; Sebastes mentella
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icesjms.2003.10.002; http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/61/1/113/29120908/61-1-113.pdf

Abstract Chemometric analysis of fatty acid profile in the heart tissue of redfish (Sebastes mentella, Travin 1951) from 11 locations in the waters off Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and from two strata at different depths in the Irminger Sea revealed the presence of four separate stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean. The investigation has, statistically, shown: (i) a clear distinction between S. mentella on the Faroe Plateau and S. mentella in the deeps south-west of the Faroe Bank and on the Wyville Thomson Ridge; (ii) a relationship between S. mentella inhabiting the Faroe Plateau and the Norwegian Sea; and (iii) two significantly distinct stocks of S. mentella dwelling on the Icelandic Plateau. The chemometric method, consisting of methanolysis, gas chromatography of the resulting fatty acid methyl esters, and multivariate statistical treatment of the analytical data, has a discriminating power high enough to differentiate at stock level and individual level.