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Milligan RJ, Scott EM, Jones DOB, Bett BJ, Jamieson AJ, O'Brien R, Pereira Costa S, Rowe GT, Ruhl HA, Smith KL, de Susanne P, Vardaro MF, Bailey DM. Evidence for seasonal cycles in deep-sea fish abundances: A great migration in the deep SE Atlantic? J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1593-1603. [PMID: 32198925 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Animal migrations are of global ecological significance, providing mechanisms for the transport of nutrients and energy between distant locations. In much of the deep sea (>200 m water depth), the export of nutrients from the surface ocean provides a crucial but seasonally variable energy source to seafloor ecosystems. Seasonal faunal migrations have been hypothesized to occur on the deep seafloor as a result, but have not been documented. Here, we analyse a 7.5-year record of photographic data from the Deep-ocean Environmental Long-term Observatory Systems seafloor observatories to determine whether there was evidence of seasonal (intra-annual) migratory behaviours in a deep-sea fish assemblage on the West African margin and, if so, identify potential cues for the behaviour. Our findings demonstrate a correlation between intra-annual changes in demersal fish abundance at 1,400 m depth and satellite-derived estimates of primary production off the coast of Angola. Highest fish abundances were observed in late November with a smaller peak in June, occurring approximately 4 months after corresponding peaks in primary production. Observed changes in fish abundance occurred too rapidly to be explained by recruitment or mortality, and must therefore have a behavioural driver. Given the recurrent patterns observed, and the established importance of bottom-up trophic structuring in deep-sea ecosystems, we hypothesize that a large fraction of the fish assemblage may conduct seasonal migrations in this region, and propose seasonal variability in surface ocean primary production as a plausible cause. Such trophic control could lead to changes in the abundance of fishes across the seafloor by affecting secondary production of prey species and/or carrion availability for example. In summary, we present the first evidence for seasonally recurring patterns in deep-sea demersal fish abundances over a 7-year period, and demonstrate a previously unobserved level of dynamism in the deep sea, potentially mirroring the great migrations so well characterized in terrestrial systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosanna J Milligan
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.,Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, FL, USA
| | - E Marian Scott
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | | | | | - Alan J Jamieson
- School of Natural and Environmental Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Robert O'Brien
- BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, Sunbury on Thames, UK
| | - Sofia Pereira Costa
- BP Angola (Block 18) BV, BP International Centre for Business & Technology, Sunbury on Thames, UK
| | | | - Henry A Ruhl
- National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK.,Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Ken L Smith
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Philippe de Susanne
- BP Angola (Block 18) BV, BP International Centre for Business & Technology, Sunbury on Thames, UK
| | | | - David M Bailey
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
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High resolution study of the spatial distributions of abyssal fishes by autonomous underwater vehicle. Sci Rep 2016; 6:26095. [PMID: 27180728 PMCID: PMC4867640 DOI: 10.1038/srep26095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 04/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
On abyssal plains, demersal fish are believed to play an important role in transferring energy across the seafloor and between the pelagic and benthic realms. However, little is known about their spatial distributions, making it difficult to quantify their ecological significance. To address this, we employed an autonomous underwater vehicle to conduct an exceptionally large photographic survey of fish distributions on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (NE Atlantic, 4850 m water depth) encompassing two spatial scales (1-10 km(2)) on and adjacent to a small abyssal hill (240 m elevation). The spatial distributions of the total fish fauna and that of the two dominant morphotypes (Coryphaenoides sp. 1 and C. profundicolus) appeared to be random, a result contrary to common expectation but consistent with previous predictions for these fishes. We estimated total fish density on the abyssal plain to be 723 individuals km(-2) (95% CI: 601-844). This estimate is higher, and likely more precise, than prior estimates from trawl catch and baited camera techniques (152 and 188 individuals km(-2) respectively). We detected no significant difference in fish density between abyssal hill and plain, nor did we detect any evidence for the existence of fish aggregations at any spatial scale assessed.
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Jamieson AJ, Fujii T, Bagley PM, Priede IG. Scavenging interactions between the arrow tooth eel Synaphobranchus kaupii and the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2011; 79:205-216. [PMID: 21722120 DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03014.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
A scavenging interaction between the arrow tooth eel Synaphobranchus kaupii and the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis, both ubiquitous components of fish assemblages at bathyal depths, was observed. Using a baited camera between 1297 and 2453 m in the eastern Atlantic Ocean continental slope, it was shown that despite consistently rapid arrival times of S. kaupii (<5 min), their feeding bouts (indicated by acute peak in numbers) did not take place until shortly after C. coelolepis arrived and removed the exterior surface of the bait (skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis carcass). Change in the numbers of S. kaupii was hence dependent on the arrival of a more powerful scavenger throughout the study site, and at the deeper stations where the population of C. coelolepis declined, S. kaupii was observed to be present but waited for >2 h before feeding, thus contradicting conventional scavenging assumptions in the presence of a food fall.
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Affiliation(s)
- A J Jamieson
- Oceanlab, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Main Street, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire AB41 6AA, UK.
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Kaïm‐Malka RA. Biology and life cycle ofTmetonyx similis(G. O. Sars, 1891) (Amphipoda, Lysianassidae), a scavenging amphipod from the continental slope of the Mediterranean. J NAT HIST 2005. [DOI: 10.1080/00222930500240502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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The fate of cetacean carcasses in the deep sea: observations on consumption rates and succession of scavenging species in the abyssal north-east Atlantic Ocean. Proc Biol Sci 1998; 265:1119-1127. [PMCID: PMC1689177 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The fate of cetacean carcasses in the deep sea was investigated using autonomous deep-sea lander vehicles incorporating time-lapse camera systems, fish and amphipod traps. Three lander deployments placed cetacean carcasses at depths of 4000 to 4800 m in the north-east Atlantic for periods of 36 h, 152 h and 276 h before being recovered. The photographic sequences revealed that carcasses were rapidly consumed by fish and invertebrate scavengers with removal rates ranging from 0.05 to 0.4 kg h-1. In the longest experiment the carcass was skeletonized within five days. In each deployment, approximately an hour after emplacement, the grenadier Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus ) armatus and large numbers of lysianassid amphipods had arrived at the food-fall. The initially high numbers of grenadiers declined once the majority of the bait had been consumed and a variety of other fish and invertebrates were then observed, some taking up residence at the site. None of the fish species appeared to consume the carcass directly, but preyed upon amphipods instead. Funnel traps recovered with the carcass indicated a succession in the species composition of amphipods, with the specialist necrophages such as Paralicella spp. being replaced by more generalist feeders of the Orchomene species complex.
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Bett BJ, Rice AL, Thurston MH. A Quantitative Photographic Survey of ‘Spoke-Burrow’ TypeLebensspuren on the Cape Verde Abyssal Plain. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1995. [DOI: 10.1002/iroh.19950800204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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