Spatial and trophic ecology of the sawtooth eel, Serrivomer beanii, a biomass-dominant bathypelagic fish over the northern Mid-Atlantic ridge

• Other Authors: Geidner, Megan E., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Plankton > Ecology; Plankton > Atlantic Ocean > Ecology; Coral reef animals > Ecology; Coral reef animals > Atlantic Ocean > Ecology; Deep sea biology; Deep sea biology > Atlantic Ocean; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165941; https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A2823/datastream/TN/view/Spatial%20and%20trophic%20ecology%20of%20the%20sawtooth%20eel,%20Serrivomer%20beanii,%20a%20biomass-dominant%20bathypelagic%20fish%20over%20the%20northern%20Mid-Atlantic%20ridge.jpg

The role of Serrivomer beanii in bathypelagic food webs is poorly known, but abundance and biomass estimates from the 2004 G.O. Sars MAR-ECO Expedition suggest it to have a high level of importance. MAR-ECO, a Census of Marine Life field project, has allowed us to increase our knowledge of S. beanii through spatial analysis, including the congeneric species Serrivomer lanceolatoides, and trophic analysis. Serrivomer beanii abundance and biomass exhibited a decreasing trend along the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge from north to south. In terms of size, S. beanii was found to increase as distance from the ridge decreased, suggesting a topographic aggregation strategy. The diet of S. beanii consisted of crustaceans, cephalopods, and teleosts. The trophic results of this study reveal a likely "alternative" trophic pathway in the deep mid-North Atlantic, and perhaps other, bathypelagic ecosystems: higher trophic-level predators are supported by micronektonic invertebrates as primary prey. by Megan E. Geidner. Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. Includes bibliography. Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2008. Mode of access: World Wide Web.