A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic
A breeding colony of notothenioid icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah, Nybelin 1947) of globally unprecedented extent has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The colony was estimated to cover at least similar to 240 km(2) of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, comprised of fish n...
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ftpubman:oai:pure.mpg.de:item_3383391 2023-08-27T04:06:16+02:00 A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic Purser, A. Hehemann, L. Boehringer, L. Tippenhauer, S. Wege, M. Bornemann, H. Pineda-Metz, S. Flintrop, C. Koch, F. Hellmer, H. Burkhardt-Holm, P. Janout, M. Werner, E. Glemser, B. Balaguer, J. Rogge, A. Holtappels, M. Wenzhoefer, F. 2022 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7135-B http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7137-9 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7135-B http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7137-9 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CURRENT BIOLOGY info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2022 ftpubman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 2023-08-02T01:05:23Z A breeding colony of notothenioid icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah, Nybelin 1947) of globally unprecedented extent has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The colony was estimated to cover at least similar to 240 km(2) of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, comprised of fish nests at a density of 0.26 nests per square meter, representing an estimated total of -60 million active nests and associated fish biomass of >60,000 tonnes. The majority of nests were each occupied by 1 adult fish guarding 1,735 eggs (+/- 433 SD). Bottom water temperatures measured across the nesting colony were up to 2 degrees C warmer than the surrounding bottom waters, indicating a spatial correlation between the modified Warm Deep Water (mWDW) upflow onto the Weddell Shelf and the active nesting area. Historical and concurrently collected seal movement data indicate that this concentrated fish biomass may be utilized by predators such as Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii, Lesson 1826). Numerous degraded fish carcasses within and near the nesting colony suggest that, in death as well as life, these fish provide input for local food webs and influence local biogeochemical processing. To our knowledge, the area surveyed harbors the most spatially expansive continuous fish breeding colony discovered to date globally at any depth, as well as an exceptionally high Antarctic seafloor biomass. This discovery provides support for the establishment of a regional marine protected area in the Southern Ocean under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) umbrella. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe Antarctic Filchner Trough ENVELOPE(-36.000,-36.000,-77.000,-77.000) Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea Current Biology 32 4 842 850.e4 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe |
op_collection_id |
ftpubman |
language |
English |
description |
A breeding colony of notothenioid icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah, Nybelin 1947) of globally unprecedented extent has been discovered in the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The colony was estimated to cover at least similar to 240 km(2) of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, comprised of fish nests at a density of 0.26 nests per square meter, representing an estimated total of -60 million active nests and associated fish biomass of >60,000 tonnes. The majority of nests were each occupied by 1 adult fish guarding 1,735 eggs (+/- 433 SD). Bottom water temperatures measured across the nesting colony were up to 2 degrees C warmer than the surrounding bottom waters, indicating a spatial correlation between the modified Warm Deep Water (mWDW) upflow onto the Weddell Shelf and the active nesting area. Historical and concurrently collected seal movement data indicate that this concentrated fish biomass may be utilized by predators such as Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii, Lesson 1826). Numerous degraded fish carcasses within and near the nesting colony suggest that, in death as well as life, these fish provide input for local food webs and influence local biogeochemical processing. To our knowledge, the area surveyed harbors the most spatially expansive continuous fish breeding colony discovered to date globally at any depth, as well as an exceptionally high Antarctic seafloor biomass. This discovery provides support for the establishment of a regional marine protected area in the Southern Ocean under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) umbrella. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Purser, A. Hehemann, L. Boehringer, L. Tippenhauer, S. Wege, M. Bornemann, H. Pineda-Metz, S. Flintrop, C. Koch, F. Hellmer, H. Burkhardt-Holm, P. Janout, M. Werner, E. Glemser, B. Balaguer, J. Rogge, A. Holtappels, M. Wenzhoefer, F. |
spellingShingle |
Purser, A. Hehemann, L. Boehringer, L. Tippenhauer, S. Wege, M. Bornemann, H. Pineda-Metz, S. Flintrop, C. Koch, F. Hellmer, H. Burkhardt-Holm, P. Janout, M. Werner, E. Glemser, B. Balaguer, J. Rogge, A. Holtappels, M. Wenzhoefer, F. A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
author_facet |
Purser, A. Hehemann, L. Boehringer, L. Tippenhauer, S. Wege, M. Bornemann, H. Pineda-Metz, S. Flintrop, C. Koch, F. Hellmer, H. Burkhardt-Holm, P. Janout, M. Werner, E. Glemser, B. Balaguer, J. Rogge, A. Holtappels, M. Wenzhoefer, F. |
author_sort |
Purser, A. |
title |
A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
title_short |
A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
title_full |
A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
title_fullStr |
A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
title_sort |
vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the antarctic |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7135-B http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7137-9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-36.000,-36.000,-77.000,-77.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Filchner Trough Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Filchner Trough Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals |
op_source |
CURRENT BIOLOGY |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7135-B http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7137-9 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 |
container_title |
Current Biology |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
842 |
op_container_end_page |
850.e4 |
_version_ |
1775347077472059392 |