Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean
Fish diversity and ecology in the ocean’s mesopelagic zone are understudied compared to other marine regions despite growing interest in harvesting these potential resources. Otoliths can provide a wealth of taxonomic and life history information about fish, which can help fill these knowledge gaps;...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d8ddde9fd2114db889343aa2f06f32db 2023-09-26T15:20:55+02:00 Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean Lucinda A. Quigley Paul E. Caiger Annette F. Govindarajan Helena McMonagle J. Michael Jech Andone C. Lavery Heidi M. Sosik Joel K. Llopiz 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 https://doaj.org/article/d8ddde9fd2114db889343aa2f06f32db EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 https://doaj.org/article/d8ddde9fd2114db889343aa2f06f32db Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) sagitta midwater fish DNA barcoding otolith integrative taxonomy Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 2023-08-27T00:38:07Z Fish diversity and ecology in the ocean’s mesopelagic zone are understudied compared to other marine regions despite growing interest in harvesting these potential resources. Otoliths can provide a wealth of taxonomic and life history information about fish, which can help fill these knowledge gaps; however, there has been relatively little research to date on the otoliths of mesopelagic species. Here, a species-specific image library was assembled of sagittal otoliths from 70 mesopelagic fishes belonging to 29 families collected in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Images of adult sagittal otoliths from 12 species were documented and photographed for the first time. The fish were identified to species with a combination of morphological characters and DNA barcoding. Regressions between otolith size and fish length are presented for the six species with the largest sample sizes in this study. This otolith image library, coupled with otolith-length and width to fish-length relationships, can be used for prey identification and back-calculation of fish size, making it a valuable tool for studies relating to food webs in the important yet poorly understood mesopelagic zone. In addition, the 44 fish barcodes generated in this study highlight the benefit of using an integrative taxonomic approach to studies of this nature, as well as add to existing public databases that enable cryptic species and metabarcoding analyses of mesopelagic species. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
sagitta midwater fish DNA barcoding otolith integrative taxonomy Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
sagitta midwater fish DNA barcoding otolith integrative taxonomy Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Lucinda A. Quigley Paul E. Caiger Annette F. Govindarajan Helena McMonagle J. Michael Jech Andone C. Lavery Heidi M. Sosik Joel K. Llopiz Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
topic_facet |
sagitta midwater fish DNA barcoding otolith integrative taxonomy Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Fish diversity and ecology in the ocean’s mesopelagic zone are understudied compared to other marine regions despite growing interest in harvesting these potential resources. Otoliths can provide a wealth of taxonomic and life history information about fish, which can help fill these knowledge gaps; however, there has been relatively little research to date on the otoliths of mesopelagic species. Here, a species-specific image library was assembled of sagittal otoliths from 70 mesopelagic fishes belonging to 29 families collected in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Images of adult sagittal otoliths from 12 species were documented and photographed for the first time. The fish were identified to species with a combination of morphological characters and DNA barcoding. Regressions between otolith size and fish length are presented for the six species with the largest sample sizes in this study. This otolith image library, coupled with otolith-length and width to fish-length relationships, can be used for prey identification and back-calculation of fish size, making it a valuable tool for studies relating to food webs in the important yet poorly understood mesopelagic zone. In addition, the 44 fish barcodes generated in this study highlight the benefit of using an integrative taxonomic approach to studies of this nature, as well as add to existing public databases that enable cryptic species and metabarcoding analyses of mesopelagic species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lucinda A. Quigley Paul E. Caiger Annette F. Govindarajan Helena McMonagle J. Michael Jech Andone C. Lavery Heidi M. Sosik Joel K. Llopiz |
author_facet |
Lucinda A. Quigley Paul E. Caiger Annette F. Govindarajan Helena McMonagle J. Michael Jech Andone C. Lavery Heidi M. Sosik Joel K. Llopiz |
author_sort |
Lucinda A. Quigley |
title |
Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
otolith characterization and integrative species identification of adult mesopelagic fishes from the western north atlantic ocean |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 https://doaj.org/article/d8ddde9fd2114db889343aa2f06f32db |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 https://doaj.org/article/d8ddde9fd2114db889343aa2f06f32db |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1217779 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1778145237776990208 |