Latitudinalandbathymetricpatternsinthedistributionandabundance of mesopelagicfishintheScotiaSea
International audience Mesopelagicfishareakeycomponentofthepelagicecosystemthroughouttheworld'soceans.Opening and closingnetswereusedtoinvestigatepatternsinthedistributionandabundanceofmesopelagic fish fromthesurfaceto1000monaseriesoftransectsacrosstheScotiaSeafromtheice-edgetothe AntarcticPola...
Published in: | Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2012
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2011.07.003 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00662416 |
Summary: | International audience Mesopelagicfishareakeycomponentofthepelagicecosystemthroughouttheworld'soceans.Opening and closingnetswereusedtoinvestigatepatternsinthedistributionandabundanceofmesopelagic fish fromthesurfaceto1000monaseriesoftransectsacrosstheScotiaSeafromtheice-edgetothe AntarcticPolarFront.Atotalof141non-targetnethaulswereundertakenduringthreecruises(Nov 2006, Jan2008andMar2009),with7852teleostfishcaptured,representing43speciesin17families.A further 1517fishwerecaughtintargetednethauls.ThedominantfamiliesweretheMyctophidae (6961 specimens;21species)andBathylagidae(1467specimens;4species).Fewfishwerecaughtin the upper400mduringdaylight,whichwasattributedtoacombinationofnetavoidanceanddiurnal verticalmigration.Speciescompositionwaslinkedtodepthandlocationandwascloselyassociated with oceanographicfeatures.Diversitywaslowestincoldwateratthemostsoutherlystations,which were dominatedby Electronaantarctica, Gymnoscopelusbraueri and Bathylagusantarcticus. Further north,diversityincreasedwiththeadditionofspeciessuchas Krefftichthysanderssoni, Protomyctophum bolini and Electronacarlsbergi. Thedepthintegratedbiomassofmyctophidswassimilaracrossthe latitudinaltransectandproducedanestimateof4.5milliontonnesintheScotiaSea.Bathylagidswere patchily distributed,butwereabundantinthelowermesopelagiczone(4400 m)andarepotentially significantzooplanktonconsumers.Giventhebiomassofthemyctophidsandbathylagidscoupledwith the verticalmigrationsofmanyspecies,thesefisharelikelytoplayasignificantroleincarbonexport from thesurfacewaterstothedeepocean. |
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