New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest teleost fish in the world. Despite being found in all oceans of the world, little is known about its abundance and factors driving its distribution. In this study we provide the first abundance estimates for sunfish in offshore waters in the northeast Atl...
Published in: | Scientific Reports |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Springer Nature
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10379/10512 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 |
id |
ftnuigalway:oai:aran.library.nuigalway.ie/:10379/10512 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftnuigalway:oai:aran.library.nuigalway.ie/:10379/10512 2023-06-11T04:15:13+02:00 New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic Breen, Patricia Cañadas, Ana Cadhla, Oliver Ó Mackey, Mick Scheidat, Meike Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer Jessopp, Mark 2017-05-17 http://hdl.handle.net/10379/10512 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 unknown Springer Nature Scientific Reports Breen, Patricia; Cañadas, Ana; Cadhla, Oliver Ó; Mackey, Mick; Scheidat, Meike; Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer; Jessopp, Mark (2017). New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic. Scientific Reports 7 , 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10379/10512 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/ spatial models jellyfish patterns future behavior tracking coastal waters irish sea Article 2017 ftnuigalway https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 2023-05-28T18:05:02Z The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest teleost fish in the world. Despite being found in all oceans of the world, little is known about its abundance and factors driving its distribution. In this study we provide the first abundance estimates for sunfish in offshore waters in the northeast Atlantic and the first record of extensive sunfish presence in these waters year-round. Abundance estimates and predictive distributions for sunfish in approximately 300,000 km(2) of the northeast Atlantic were derived from large scale offshore aerial surveys in 2015-2016 using distance sampling techniques. Generalized additive models of sunfish density were fitted to survey data from 17,360 km of line transect effort resulting in minimum abundance estimates of 12,702 (CI: 9,864-16,357) in the summer (Density = 0.043 ind/ km(2)) and 8,223 individuals (CI: 6,178-10,946) (Density = 0.028 ind/ km(2)) in the winter. Density surface models predicted seasonal shifts in distribution and highlighted the importance of the mixed layer depth, possibly related to thermoregulation following deep foraging dives. The abundance estimate and estimated daily consumption of 2,600 tonnes of jellyfish in the northeast Atlantic highlights the need to re-assess the importance of this species in the pelagic ecosystem, and its role in top-down control of jellyfish blooms. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway: ARAN Scientific Reports 7 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway: ARAN |
op_collection_id |
ftnuigalway |
language |
unknown |
topic |
spatial models jellyfish patterns future behavior tracking coastal waters irish sea |
spellingShingle |
spatial models jellyfish patterns future behavior tracking coastal waters irish sea Breen, Patricia Cañadas, Ana Cadhla, Oliver Ó Mackey, Mick Scheidat, Meike Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer Jessopp, Mark New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
topic_facet |
spatial models jellyfish patterns future behavior tracking coastal waters irish sea |
description |
The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest teleost fish in the world. Despite being found in all oceans of the world, little is known about its abundance and factors driving its distribution. In this study we provide the first abundance estimates for sunfish in offshore waters in the northeast Atlantic and the first record of extensive sunfish presence in these waters year-round. Abundance estimates and predictive distributions for sunfish in approximately 300,000 km(2) of the northeast Atlantic were derived from large scale offshore aerial surveys in 2015-2016 using distance sampling techniques. Generalized additive models of sunfish density were fitted to survey data from 17,360 km of line transect effort resulting in minimum abundance estimates of 12,702 (CI: 9,864-16,357) in the summer (Density = 0.043 ind/ km(2)) and 8,223 individuals (CI: 6,178-10,946) (Density = 0.028 ind/ km(2)) in the winter. Density surface models predicted seasonal shifts in distribution and highlighted the importance of the mixed layer depth, possibly related to thermoregulation following deep foraging dives. The abundance estimate and estimated daily consumption of 2,600 tonnes of jellyfish in the northeast Atlantic highlights the need to re-assess the importance of this species in the pelagic ecosystem, and its role in top-down control of jellyfish blooms. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Breen, Patricia Cañadas, Ana Cadhla, Oliver Ó Mackey, Mick Scheidat, Meike Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer Jessopp, Mark |
author_facet |
Breen, Patricia Cañadas, Ana Cadhla, Oliver Ó Mackey, Mick Scheidat, Meike Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer Jessopp, Mark |
author_sort |
Breen, Patricia |
title |
New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
title_short |
New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
title_full |
New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
title_fullStr |
New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
title_sort |
new insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10379/10512 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_relation |
Scientific Reports Breen, Patricia; Cañadas, Ana; Cadhla, Oliver Ó; Mackey, Mick; Scheidat, Meike; Geelhoed, Steve C. V. Rogan, Emer; Jessopp, Mark (2017). New insights into ocean sunfish (mola mola) abundance and seasonal distribution in the northeast atlantic. Scientific Reports 7 , 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10379/10512 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 |
op_rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-02103-6 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1768371874458238976 |