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Seasonal patterns in the nocturnal distribution and behavior of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri at high latitudes

2015; Inter-Research; Volume: 521; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/meps11139

1616-1599

PK Prihartato, DL Aksnes, Stein Kaartvedt,

Marine animal studies overview

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 521:189-200 (2015) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11139 Seasonal patterns in the nocturnal distribution and behavior of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri at high latitudes Perdana K. Prihartato1, Dag L. Aksnes2, Stein Kaartvedt1,3,* 1King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Red Sea Research Center, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia 2Hjort Centre for Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Norway 3University of Oslo, Department of Biosciences, PO Box 1066 Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway *Corresponding author: stein.kaartvedt@ibv.uio.no ABSTRACT: Acoustic scattering layers (SL) ascribed to pearlside Maurolicus muelleri were studied in Masfjorden, Norway, using upward-looking echo sounders cabled to shore for continuous long-term measurements. The acoustic studies were accompanied by continuous measurements of surface light and supplemented with intermittent field campaigns. From autumn to spring, young M. muelleri formed an SL in the upper ~75 to 150 m in the daytime, characterized by migration to near-surface water near dusk, subsequent 'midnight sinking', followed by a dawn ascent before a return to the daytime habitat. Light levels were ~1 order of magnitude lower during the dawn ascent than for ascent in the afternoon, with the latter terminating before fish reached upper layers on ~1/3 of the nights from late November to mid-April. Adults showed less tendency of migration during autumn and winter, until the SLs of young and adults merged in late spring, and thereafter displayed coherent migration behavior. The midnight sinking became progressively deeper from autumn to winter but was strongly reduced from mid-May when the darkest nocturnal light intensity (PAR) at the surface was above 10-3 µmol m-2 s-1. The pearlside took on schooling in upper waters during the even lighter nights in early June, with minimum light of ~5 × 10-3 to 10-1 µmol m-2 s-1 at the surface. Nocturnal schooling ceased in early July, and midnight sinking reappeared in mid-August. We suggest that the strong variation in nocturnal light intensity at high latitudes provides changing trade-offs between visual foraging and avoiding predators and hence varying time budgets for feeding in the upper, productive layers. KEY WORDS: Behavior · Diel vertical migration · Light levels · Mesopelagic · Acoustics Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Prihartato PK, Aksnes DL, Kaartvedt S (2015) Seasonal patterns in the nocturnal distribution and behavior of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri at high latitudes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 521:189-200. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11139 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 521. Online publication date: February 17, 2015 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2015 Inter-Research.