Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration
The biomass of mesopelagic fish in the Southern Ocean is one of the largest of any ocean region and is dominated (both in terms of diversity and biomass) by myctophids (lantern-fish). Despite their high ecological importance in this region, and globally, our understanding of the life-cycles and dist...
Published in: | Marine Ecology Progress Series |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Inter-Research
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/1/Southern%20Ocean%20mesopelagic%20fish%20communities%20in%20the%20Scotia%20Sea%20are%20sustained%20by%20mass%20immigration%20AAM.docx https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 |
id |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:516498 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:516498 2023-05-15T18:15:59+02:00 Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration Saunders, Ryan A. Collins, Martin A. Stowasser, Gabriele Tarling, Geraint A. 2017-04 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/1/Southern%20Ocean%20mesopelagic%20fish%20communities%20in%20the%20Scotia%20Sea%20are%20sustained%20by%20mass%20immigration%20AAM.docx https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 en eng Inter-Research https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/1/Southern%20Ocean%20mesopelagic%20fish%20communities%20in%20the%20Scotia%20Sea%20are%20sustained%20by%20mass%20immigration%20AAM.docx Saunders, Ryan A. orcid:0000-0002-1157-7222 Collins, Martin A. orcid:0000-0001-7132-8650 Stowasser, Gabriele orcid:0000-0002-0595-0772 Tarling, Geraint A. orcid:0000-0002-3753-5899 . 2017 Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 569. 173-185. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 <https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 2023-02-04T19:44:39Z The biomass of mesopelagic fish in the Southern Ocean is one of the largest of any ocean region and is dominated (both in terms of diversity and biomass) by myctophids (lantern-fish). Despite their high ecological importance in this region, and globally, our understanding of the life-cycles and distribution of myctophids remains limited. We examined length-frequency data from trawl-nets collected across a major sector of the Southern Ocean (the Scotia-Weddell sector) in different seasons to determine patterns of recruitment and growth. There was an absence of larval myctophids, of any species, in net-catches, while larger, older individuals became increasingly dominant with increasing latitude. Very few specimens were found to contain mature gonads, indicating that individuals do not reach reproductive condition in this region. Most myctophid species that occurred within the survey regions neither recruited locally nor were self-supporting. Myctophids are prey for a large number of higher predators (penguins, seals and cetaceans) in the Scotia Sea and are a major predator of zooplankton and krill. We show that this vital part of the Southern Ocean food-web is dependent on mass immigration from lower latitudes in the region. By implication, the sensitivities of this system depend not only on local conditions but also on levels of connectivity to other oceanic regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Southern Ocean Scotia Sea Weddell Marine Ecology Progress Series 569 173 185 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The biomass of mesopelagic fish in the Southern Ocean is one of the largest of any ocean region and is dominated (both in terms of diversity and biomass) by myctophids (lantern-fish). Despite their high ecological importance in this region, and globally, our understanding of the life-cycles and distribution of myctophids remains limited. We examined length-frequency data from trawl-nets collected across a major sector of the Southern Ocean (the Scotia-Weddell sector) in different seasons to determine patterns of recruitment and growth. There was an absence of larval myctophids, of any species, in net-catches, while larger, older individuals became increasingly dominant with increasing latitude. Very few specimens were found to contain mature gonads, indicating that individuals do not reach reproductive condition in this region. Most myctophid species that occurred within the survey regions neither recruited locally nor were self-supporting. Myctophids are prey for a large number of higher predators (penguins, seals and cetaceans) in the Scotia Sea and are a major predator of zooplankton and krill. We show that this vital part of the Southern Ocean food-web is dependent on mass immigration from lower latitudes in the region. By implication, the sensitivities of this system depend not only on local conditions but also on levels of connectivity to other oceanic regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saunders, Ryan A. Collins, Martin A. Stowasser, Gabriele Tarling, Geraint A. |
spellingShingle |
Saunders, Ryan A. Collins, Martin A. Stowasser, Gabriele Tarling, Geraint A. Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
author_facet |
Saunders, Ryan A. Collins, Martin A. Stowasser, Gabriele Tarling, Geraint A. |
author_sort |
Saunders, Ryan A. |
title |
Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
title_short |
Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
title_full |
Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
title_fullStr |
Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration |
title_sort |
southern ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the scotia sea are sustained by mass immigration |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/1/Southern%20Ocean%20mesopelagic%20fish%20communities%20in%20the%20Scotia%20Sea%20are%20sustained%20by%20mass%20immigration%20AAM.docx https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Scotia Sea Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Scotia Sea Weddell |
genre |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/516498/1/Southern%20Ocean%20mesopelagic%20fish%20communities%20in%20the%20Scotia%20Sea%20are%20sustained%20by%20mass%20immigration%20AAM.docx Saunders, Ryan A. orcid:0000-0002-1157-7222 Collins, Martin A. orcid:0000-0001-7132-8650 Stowasser, Gabriele orcid:0000-0002-0595-0772 Tarling, Geraint A. orcid:0000-0002-3753-5899 . 2017 Southern Ocean mesopelagic fish communities in the Scotia Sea are sustained by mass immigration. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 569. 173-185. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 <https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12093 |
container_title |
Marine Ecology Progress Series |
container_volume |
569 |
container_start_page |
173 |
op_container_end_page |
185 |
_version_ |
1766189384981282816 |