Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T17:22:01.910Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Distribution, hatch-date, growth, and mortality of larval Benthosema pterotum (Pisces: Myctophidae) in the shelf region of the East China Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2014

Chiyuki Sassa ,
Motomitsu Takahashi  and
Youichi Tsukamoto
Chiyuki Sassa*
Affiliation:
Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
Motomitsu Takahashi
Affiliation:
Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
Youichi Tsukamoto
Affiliation:
Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C. Sassa, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan email: csassa@fra.affrc.go.jp
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined the distribution, hatch-date, growth, and mortality of larval Benthosema pterotum, a dominant pseudoceanic myctophid in the shelf region of the East China Sea, during early autumn when the main spawning has been predicted. This species is a key species in the food web of this area. Larvae were abundant in the area south of Cheju Island (60–80 m depth), corresponding with the adult habitat. Occurrence of the larvae was restricted to the onshore side of the shelf-break salinity front, indicating that this front acted as a barrier restricting the offshore dispersion of the larvae. In the area where the larvae occurred, a cyclonic eddy is formed, which is considered to limit the dispersal of the larvae, enabling them to recruit into the area of adult habitat. Modes of hatch-date appeared from late August to early September and from mid to late September, suggesting that large-scale spawning events occurred at least twice during the spawning season. Since the modes coincided with the new moon period, B. pterotum is suggested to spawn periodically once a month around the new moon, resulting in efficient mating and fertilization. Mean absolute growth rate (0.26 mm d−1) and weight-specific growth rate (18.8% of dry body weight d−1) were higher than previously reported values of other subtropical–tropical myctophids, which would be related to the high food availability in the study area. Daily instantaneous mortality coefficient during the first two weeks after hatching was estimated to be 0.28 d−1 (equivalent to 24.7% mortality d−1).

Keywords

Benthosema pterotumearly life historyhatch-datelarval distributionlarval growthlarval mortalitymesopelagic fishMyctophidaepseudoceanic speciesshelf region of the East China Sea
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 161 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

2

Present address: Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, Sapporo Laboratory, 2-2 Nakanoshima, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 062-0922, Japan

References

REFERENCES

Ahlstrom, E.H. (1959) Vertical distribution of pelagic fish eggs and larvae off California and Baja California. Fishery Bulletin 60, 107–146.Google Scholar
Badcock, J. and Merrett, N.R. (1976) Midwater fishes in the eastern North Atlantic-I. Vertical distribution and associated biology in 30°N, 23°W with developmental notes on certain myctophids. Progress in Oceanography 7, 3–58.Google Scholar
Bartsch, J. and Coombs, S.H. (2004) An individual-based model of the early life history of mackerel (Scomber scombrus) in the eastern North Atlantic, simulating transport, growth and mortality. Fisheries Oceanography 13, 365–379.Google Scholar
Brodeur, R.D. and Yamamura, O. (eds) (2005) Micronekton of the North Pacific. PICES Scientific Report 30, 115 pp.Google Scholar
Bystydzieńska, Z.E., Phillips, A.J. and Linkowski, T.B. (2010) Larval stage duration, age and growth of blue lanternfish Tarletonbeania crenularis (Jordan and Gilbert, 1880) derived from otolith microstructure. Environmental Biology of Fishes 89, 493–503.Google Scholar
Clarke, T.A. (1973) Some aspects of the ecology of lanternfishes (Myctophidae) in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. Fishery Bulletin 71, 401–434.Google Scholar
Conley, W.J. and Gartner, J.V. Jr (2009) Growth among larvae of lanternfishes (Teleostei: Myctophidae) from the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science 84, 123–135.Google Scholar
Dypvik, E. and Kaartvedt, S. (2013) Vertical migration and diel feeding periodicity of the skinnycheek lanternfish (Benthosema pterotum) in the Red Sea. Deep-Sea Research Part I 72, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gartner, J.V. Jr (1991) Life histories of three species of lanternfishes (Pisces: Myctophidae) from the eastern Gulf of Mexico I. Morphological and microstructural analysis of sagittal otoliths. Marine Biology 111, 11–20.Google Scholar
Gartner, J.V. Jr (1993) Patterns of reproduction in the dominant lanternfish species (Pisces: Myctophidae) of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, with a review of reproduction among tropical-subtropical Myctophidae. Bulletin of Marine Science 52, 721–750.Google Scholar
Gartner, J.V. Jr, Sulak, K.J., Ross, S.W. and Necaise, A.M. (2008) Persistent near-bottom aggregations of mesopelagic animals along the North Carolina and Virginia continental slopes. Marine Biology 153, 825–841.Google Scholar
Gjøsæter, J. (1973) Age, growth and mortality of the myctophid fish, Benthosema glaciale (Reinhardt), from Western Norway. Sarsia 52, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gjøsæter, J. (1981) Life history and ecology of the myctophid fish Notoscopelus kroeyeri from the north-east Atlantic. Fiskeridirektoratets Skrifter. Serie Havundersøkelser 17, 133–152.Google Scholar
Gjøsæter, J. (1984) Mesopelagic fish, a large potential resource in the Arabian Sea. Deep-Sea Research 31, 1019–1035.Google Scholar
Gjøsæter, J. and Kawaguchi, K. (1980) A review of the world resources of mesopelagic fish. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 193, 1–151.Google Scholar
Gjøsæter, J. and Tilseth, S. (1988) Spawning behavior, egg and larval development of the myctophid fish Benthosema pterotum . Marine Biology 98, 1–6.Google Scholar
Halliday, R.G. (1970) Growth and vertical distribution of the glacier lanternfish, Benthosema glaciale, in the Northwestern Atlantic. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 27, 105–116.Google Scholar
Hayashi, A., Kawaguchi, K., Watanabe, H. and Ishida, M. (2001) Daily growth increment formation and its lunar periodicity in otoliths of the myctophid fish Myctophum asperum (Pisces: Myctophidae). Fisheries Science 67, 811–817.Google Scholar
Hewitt, R.P., Theilacker, G.H. and Lo, N.C.H. (1985) Causes of mortality in young jack mackerel. Marine Ecology Progress Series 26, 1–10.Google Scholar
Houde, E.D. (1987) Fish early life dynamics and recruitment variability. American Fisheries Society Symposium 2, 17–29.Google Scholar
Houde, E.D. and Zastrow, C.E. (1993) Ecosystem- and taxon-specific dynamic and energetics properties of larval fish assemblages. Bulletin of Marine Science 53, 290–335.Google Scholar
Hulley, P.A. (1992) Upper-slope distributions of oceanic lanternfishes (family: Myctophidae). Marine Biology 114, 365–383.Google Scholar
Ishihara, S. and Kubota, T. (1997) Food habits of the lanternfish Benthosema pterotum in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 63, 522–530. [In Japanese, with English abstract].Google Scholar
Ishihara, S., Kubota, T. and Yamada, U. (1995) Some morphological characteristics of a lanternfish, Benthosema pterotum (Alcock), in the East China and Yellow Seas. Bulletin of the Institute of Oceanic Research and Development, Tokai University 16, 1–12. [In Japanese, with English abstract].Google Scholar
Isobe, A. (2008) Recent advances in ocean-circulation research on the Yellow Sea and East China Sea shelves. Journal of Oceanography 64, 569–584.Google Scholar
Jiang, R.J., Jin, H.W., Zhou, Y.D., Xue, L.J. and Guo, A. (2013) Feeding habits of Trachurus japonicus in the East China Sea. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology 24, 2015–2024. [In Chinese, with English abstract.]Google Scholar
Jiang, R.J., Xu, H.X., Jin, H.W., Zhou, Y.D. and He, Z.T. (2012) Feeding habits of blue mackerel scad Decapterus maruadsi Temminck et Schlegel in the East China Sea. Journal of Fisheries of China 36, 216–227. [In Chinese, with English abstract.]Google Scholar
Johnson, D.L. and Morse, W.W. (1994) Net extrusion of larval fish: correction factors for 0.333 mm versus 0.505 mm mesh bongo nets. NAFO Scientific Council Studies 20, 85–92.Google Scholar
Kondo, M. (1985) Oceanographic investigations of fishing grounds in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. I. Characteristics of the mean temperature and salinity distributions measured at 50 m and near the bottom. Bulletin of the Seikai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory 62, 19–66. [In Japanese, with English abstract.]Google Scholar
Linkowski, T.B. (1985) Population biology of the myctophid fish Gymnoscopelus nicholsi (Gilbert, 1911), from the western South Atlantic. Journal of Fish Biology 27, 683–698.Google Scholar
Linkowski, T.B. (1996) Lunar rhythms of vertical migrations coded in otolith microstructure of North Atlantic lanternfishes, genus Hygophum (Myctophidae). Marine Biology 124, 495–508.Google Scholar
Loeb, V.J. (1979) Vertical distribution and development of larval fishes in the North Pacific central gyre during summer. Fishery Bulletin 77, 777–793.Google Scholar
Mio, S., Tagawa, M., Shinohara, F. and Yamada, U. (1984) Ecological study on the demersal fish associations in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, with reference to food relationships. Bulletin of the Seikai Regional Fisheries Research Laboratory 61, 1–221. [In Japanese, with English abstract.]Google Scholar
Moku, M., Hayashi, A., Mori, K. and Watanabe, Y. (2005) Validation of daily otolith increment formation in the larval myctophid fish Diaphus slender-type spp. Journal of Fish Biology 67, 1481–1485.Google Scholar
Moku, M., Ishimaru, K. and Kawaguchi, K. (2001) Growth of larval and juvenile Diaphus theta (Pisces: Myctophidae) in the transitional waters of the western North Pacific. Ichthyological Research 48, 385–390.Google Scholar
Moku, M., Mori, K. and Watanabe, Y. (2004) Shrinkage in the body length of myctophid fish (Diaphus slender-type spp.) larvae with various preservatives. Copeia 2004, 647–651.Google Scholar
Moser, H.G. and Ahlstrom, E.H. (1996) Myctophidae: Lanternfishes. In Moser, H.G. (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. La Jolla, CA: CalCOFI Atlas No. 33, pp. 387–475.Google Scholar
Moser, H.G. and Smith, P.E. (1993a) Larval fish assemblages and oceanic boundaries. Bulletin of Marine Science 53, 283–289.Google Scholar
Moser, H.G. and Smith, P.E. (1993b) Larval fish assemblages of the California Current region and their horizontal and vertical distributions across a front. Bulletin of Marine Science 53, 645–691.Google Scholar
Motoda, S. (1957) North Pacific standard plankton net. Information Bulletin on Planktology in Japan 4, 13–15. [In Japanese, with English abstract.]Google Scholar
Motoda, S. (1971) Devices of simple plankton apparatus V. Bulletin of the Faculty of Fisheries Hokkaido University 22, 101–106.Google Scholar
Nakata, H. (1989) Transport and distribution of fish eggs and larvae in the vicinity of coastal fronts. Rapport et Procès-verbaux des Réunions, Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer 191, 153–159.Google Scholar
Nakata, H., Fujihara, M., Suenaga, Y., Nagasawa, T. and Fujii, T. (2000) Effect of wind blows on the transport and settlement of brown sole (Pleuronectes herzensteini) larvae in a shelf region of the Sea of Japan: numerical experiment with an Euler–Lagrangian model. Journal of Sea Research 44, 91–100.Google Scholar
Nakata, K., Nakano, H. and Kikuchi, H. (1994) Relationship between egg productivity and RNA/DNA ratio in Paracalanus sp. in the frontal waters of the Kuroshio. Marine Biology 119, 591–596.Google Scholar
Okazaki, Y. and Nakata, H. (2007) Effect of the mesoscale hydrographic features on larval fish distribution across the shelf break of East China Sea. Continental Shelf Research 27, 1616–1628.Google Scholar
Olivar, M.P., Sabatés, A., Alemany, F., Balbín, R., Fernández de Puelles, M.L. and Torres, A.P. (2014) Diel-depth distributions of fish larvae off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean) under two environmental scenarios. Journal of Marine Systems (in press).Google Scholar
Omori, M. (1965) A 160-cm opening–closing plankton net-I. Description of the gear. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 21, 20–28.Google Scholar
Ozawa, T. (ed.) (1986) Studies on the oceanic ichthyoplankton in the western North Pacific. Fukuoka: Kyushu University Press.Google Scholar
Ozawa, T. and Peñaflor, G.C. (1990) Otolith microstructure and early ontogeny of a myctophid species Benthosema pterotum . Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 56, 1987–1995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prestidge, M.C., Harris, R.P. and Taylor, A.H. (1995) A modelling investigation of copepod egg production in the Irish Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science 52, 693–703.Google Scholar
Reid, S.B., Hirota, J., Young, R.E. and Hallacher, L.E. (1991) Mesopelagic-boundary community in Hawaii: micronekton at the interface between neritic and oceanic ecosystems. Marine Biology 109, 427–440.Google Scholar
Röpke, A. (1993) Do larvae of mesopelagic fishes in the Arabian Sea adjust their vertical distribution to physical and biological gradients? Marine Ecology Progress Series 101, 223–235.Google Scholar
Sabatés, A. and Masó, M. (1990) Effect of a shelf-slope front on the spatial distribution of mesopelagic fish larvae in the Western Mediterranean. Deep-Sea Research 37, 1085–1098.Google Scholar
Sassa, C. and Hirota, Y. (2013) Seasonal occurrence of mesopelagic fish larvae on the onshore side of the Kuroshio off southern Japan. Deep-Sea Research Part I 81, 49–61.Google Scholar
Sassa, C. and Kawaguchi, K. (2006) Occurrence patterns of mesopelagic fish larvae in Sagami Bay, central Japan. Journal of Oceanography 62, 143–153.Google Scholar
Sassa, C., Kawaguchi, K., Hirota, Y. and Ishida, M. (2004) Distribution patterns of larval myctophid fish assemblages in the subtropical-tropical waters of the western North Pacific. Fisheries Oceanography 13, 267–282.Google Scholar
Sassa, C. and Konishi, Y. (2006) Vertical distribution of jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus larvae in the southern part of the East China Sea. Fisheries Science 72, 612–619.Google Scholar
Sassa, C., Moser, H.G. and Kawaguchi, K. (2002) Horizontal and vertical distribution patterns of larval myctophid fishes in the Kuroshio Current region. Fisheries Oceanography 11, 1–10.Google Scholar
Sassa, C., Ohshimo, S., Tanaka, H. and Tsukamoto, Y. (2014a) Reproductive biology of Benthosema pterotum (Teleostei: Myctophidae) in the shelf region of the East China Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 94, 423–433.Google Scholar
Sassa, C., Takahashi, M., Nishiuchi, K. and Tsukamoto, Y. (2014b) Distribution, growth, and mortality of larval jack mackerel Trachurus japonicus in the southern East China Sea in relation to oceanographic conditions. Journal of Plankton Research 36, 542–556.Google Scholar
Sassa, C., Tsukamoto, Y., Yamamoto, K. and Tokimura, M. (2010) Spatio-temporal distribution and biomass of Benthosema pterotum (Pisces: Myctophidae) in the shelf region of the East China Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 407, 227–241.Google Scholar
Smith, P.E. and Richardson, S. (1977) Standard techniques for pelagic fish egg and larval surveys. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 175, 1–100.Google Scholar
Suthers, I.M. (1996) Spatial variability of recent otolith growth and RNA indices in pelagic juvenile Diaphus kapalae (Myctophidae): an effect of flow disturbance near an island? Marine and Freshwater Research 47, 273–282.Google Scholar
Takagi, K., Yatsu, A., Moku, M. and Sassa, C. (2006) Age and growth of two lanternfishes, Symbolophorus californiensis and Ceratoscopelus warmingii (family Myctophidae), in the Kuroshio-Oyashio Transition Zone. Ichthyological Research 53, 281–289.Google Scholar
Takemura, A., Rahman, M.S. and Park, Y.J. (2010) External and internal controls of lunar-related reproductive rhythms in fish. Journal of Fish Biology 76, 7–26.Google Scholar
Thresher, R.E. (1984) Reproduction in reef fishes. Neptune City, NJ: TFH Publications.Google Scholar
Tsukamoto, K., Otake, T., Mochioka, N., Lee, T.W., Fricke, H., Inagaki, T., Aoyama, J., Ishikawa, S., Kimura, S., Miller, M.J., Hasumoto, H., Oya, M. and Suzuki, Y. (2003) Seamounts, new moon and eel spawning: the search for the spawning site of the Japanese eel. Environmental Biology of Fishes 66, 221–229.Google Scholar
Wagner, H.-J., Kemp, K., Mattheus, U. and Priede, I.G. (2007) Rhythms at the bottom of the deep sea: cyclic current flow changes and melatonin patterns in two species of demersal fish. Deep-Sea Research Part I 54, 1944–1956.Google Scholar
Watanabe, H., Sassa, C. and Ishida, M. (2010) Late winter vertical distribution of mesopelagic fish larvae in the Kuroshio Current region of the western North Pacific. Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Fisheries Oceanography 74, 153–158.Google Scholar
Watanabe, Y., Oozeki, Y. and Kitagawa, D. (1997) Larval parameters determining preschooling juvenile production of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) in the north-western Pacific. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54, 1067–1076.Google Scholar
Yamada, U., Tokimura, M., Horikawa, H. and Nakabo, T. (2007) Fishes and fisheries of the East China and Yellow Seas. Tokyo: Tokai University Press [In Japanese].Google Scholar
Yamashita, Y. and Bailey, K.M. (1989) A laboratory study of the bioenergetics of larval walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma . Fishery Bulletin 87, 525–536.Google Scholar
Yanagi, T., Shimizu, T. and Matsuno, T. (1996) Baroclinic eddies south of Cheju Island in the East China Sea. Journal of Oceanography 52, 763–769.Google Scholar
Young, J.W., Blaber, S.J.M. and Rose, R. (1987) Reproductive biology of three species of midwater fishes associated with the continental slope of eastern Tasmania, Australia. Marine Biology 95, 323–332.Google Scholar
Young, J.W., Bulman, C.M., Blaber, S.J.M. and Wayte, S.E. (1988) Age and growth of the lanternfish Lampanyctodes hectoris (Myctophidae) from eastern Tasmania, Australia. Marine Biology 99, 569–576.Google Scholar