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 240 km2 of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, comprised of fish nests at a den...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90796 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 |
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ftunivpretoria:oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/90796 2023-12-17T10:20:22+01:00 A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic Purser, Autun Hehemann, Laura Boehringer, Lilian Tippenhauer, Sandra Wege, Mia Bornemann, Horst Pineda-Metz, Santiago E.A. Flintrop, Clara M. Koch, Florian Hellmer, Hartmut H. Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Janout, Markus Werner, Ellen Glemser, Barbara Balaguer, Jenna Rogge, Andreas Holtappels, Moritz Wenzhoefer, Frank 2022-02 application/pdf application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90796 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 en eng Elsevier Purser, A., Hehemann, L., Boehringer, L. et al. 2022, 'A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic', Current Biology, vol. 32, pp. 842–850, doi : 10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022. 0960-9822 (print) 1879-0445 (online) doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90796 © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. Breeding Icefish Southern Weddell Sea Antarctica Colony Jonah's icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) Article 2022 ftunivpretoria https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 2023-11-21T01:30:17Z 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 240 km2 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 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. AWI grants; the H2020 project INTAROS (Integrated Arctic Observation System; the PACES (Polar Regions and Coasts in a Changing Earth System) Program of the Helmholtz Association. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-biology am2023 Mammal Research Institute Zoology and Entomology Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals University of Pretoria: UPSpace Antarctic Arctic 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 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Pretoria: UPSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpretoria |
language |
English |
topic |
Breeding Icefish Southern Weddell Sea Antarctica Colony Jonah's icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) |
spellingShingle |
Breeding Icefish Southern Weddell Sea Antarctica Colony Jonah's icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) Purser, Autun Hehemann, Laura Boehringer, Lilian Tippenhauer, Sandra Wege, Mia Bornemann, Horst Pineda-Metz, Santiago E.A. Flintrop, Clara M. Koch, Florian Hellmer, Hartmut H. Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Janout, Markus Werner, Ellen Glemser, Barbara Balaguer, Jenna Rogge, Andreas Holtappels, Moritz Wenzhoefer, Frank A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic |
topic_facet |
Breeding Icefish Southern Weddell Sea Antarctica Colony Jonah's icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah) |
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 240 km2 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 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. AWI grants; the H2020 project INTAROS (Integrated Arctic Observation System; the PACES (Polar Regions and Coasts in a Changing Earth System) Program of the Helmholtz Association. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-biology am2023 Mammal Research Institute Zoology and Entomology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Purser, Autun Hehemann, Laura Boehringer, Lilian Tippenhauer, Sandra Wege, Mia Bornemann, Horst Pineda-Metz, Santiago E.A. Flintrop, Clara M. Koch, Florian Hellmer, Hartmut H. Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Janout, Markus Werner, Ellen Glemser, Barbara Balaguer, Jenna Rogge, Andreas Holtappels, Moritz Wenzhoefer, Frank |
author_facet |
Purser, Autun Hehemann, Laura Boehringer, Lilian Tippenhauer, Sandra Wege, Mia Bornemann, Horst Pineda-Metz, Santiago E.A. Flintrop, Clara M. Koch, Florian Hellmer, Hartmut H. Burkhardt-Holm, Patricia Janout, Markus Werner, Ellen Glemser, Barbara Balaguer, Jenna Rogge, Andreas Holtappels, Moritz Wenzhoefer, Frank |
author_sort |
Purser, Autun |
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 |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90796 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-36.000,-36.000,-77.000,-77.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Filchner Trough Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Filchner Trough Southern Ocean The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Icefish Southern Ocean Weddell Sea Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
Purser, A., Hehemann, L., Boehringer, L. et al. 2022, 'A vast icefish breeding colony discovered in the Antarctic', Current Biology, vol. 32, pp. 842–850, doi : 10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022. 0960-9822 (print) 1879-0445 (online) doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.12.022 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90796 |
op_rights |
© 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. |
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 |
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1785591435902320640 |