Population Structure and Connectivity of an Important Pelagic Forage Fish in the Antarctic Ecosystem, Pleuragramma antarcticum in Relation to Large Scale Circulation ...

• Main Author: Ferguson, Jason W.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Old Dominion University 2012
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic silverfish; Antarctica; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25777/dkes-6p69; https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_etds/211/

Ocean circulation has been identified as a major process controlling the distribution of biological material in marine systems. Large-scale transport by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the Ross and Weddell Gyres, and the Antarctic Coastal Current can promote spatially complex population structure in the Southern Ocean through advection. Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum), a pelagic, neutrally buoyant notothenioid fish species, are distributed around the shelf systems of Antarctica and are considered an important species rivaling krill as prey for many birds, seals, whales, and other fish. We asked whether silverfish are distributed in independent, discrete populations along the shelf systems of the Southern Ocean or whether the large-scale circulation has led to connectivity among populations. Hypotheses were tested by measuring the chemistry, trace elements and stable isotopes, in silverfish otoliths, and comparing the chemistry with simulated particle transport using a high resolution ...