Seamount egg-laying grounds of the deepwater skate Bathyraja richardsoni (Garrick 1961)
Highly localized concentrations of elasmobranch egg capsules of the deep-water skate Bathyraja richardsoni were discovered during the first remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the Hebrides Terrace Seamount in the Rockall Trough, north-east Atlantic Ocean. Conductivity–temperature–depth profili...
| Published in: | Journal of Fish Biology |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7660/ http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7660/1/jfb.13041 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jfb.13041 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.13041 |
| Summary: | Highly localized concentrations of elasmobranch egg capsules of the deep-water skate Bathyraja richardsoni were discovered during the first remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey of the Hebrides Terrace Seamount in the Rockall Trough, north-east Atlantic Ocean. Conductivity–temperature–depth profiling indicated that the eggs were bathed in a specific environmental niche of well-oxygenated waters between 4·20 and 4·55∘ C, and salinity 34·95–35·06, on a coarse to fine-grained sandy seabed on the seamount’s eastern flank, whereas a second type of egg capsule possibly belonging to the skate Dipturus sp.) was recorded exclusively amongst the reef-building stony coral Solenosmilia variabilis. The depths of both egg-laying habitats (1489–1580 m) provide a de facto refuge from fisheries mortality for younger life stages of these skates. |
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