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Evidence of a relationship between weight and total length of marine fish in the North-eastern Atlantic Ocean: physiological, spatial and temporal variations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 December 2016

Kélig Mahé*
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
Elise Bellamy
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Environnement Ressources Languedoc Roussillon, IFREMER, Avenue Jean Monnet, CS 30171, 34203 Sète Cedex, France
Jean Paul Delpech
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
Coline Lazard
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
Michèle Salaun
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 8 rue François Toullec, 56100 Lorient, France
Yves Vérin
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
Franck Coppin
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
Morgane Travers-Trolet
Affiliation:
Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: K. Mahé, Fisheries Laboratory, IFREMER, 150 quai Gambetta, BP 699, 62 321 Boulogne-sur-mer, France email: kelig.mahe@ifremer

Abstract

Weight–Body Length relationships (WLR) of 45 fish species (37 Actinopterygii and eight Elasmobranchii) were investigated. A total of 31,167 individuals were caught and their biological parameters measured during the four quarters from 2013 to 2015, on five scientific surveys sampling the North-eastern Atlantic Ocean from the North Sea to the Bay of Biscay (ICES Divisions IVb, IVc, VIId, VIIe, VIIg, VIIh, VIIj, VIIIa and VIIIb). Among 45 tested species, all showed a significant correlation between total length (L) and total weight (W). The influence of sex on WLR was estimated for 39 species and presented a significant sexual dimorphism for 18 species. Condition factor (K) of females was always higher than for males. Moreover, a spatial effect on the WLR according to five ecoregions (the Bay of Biscay, the Celtic Sea, the Western English Channel, the Eastern English Channel and the North Sea), was significant for 18 species among 38 tested species. The temporal effect was tested according to components (year and quarter/season). The seasonality effect on WLR is more frequently significant than the year especially for the Elasmobranchii species, and can be related to the spawning season. Finally, depressiform species (skates, sharks and flatfish) are characterized by positive allometric growth, whereas there is no such clear pattern regarding roundfishes growth, whatever their body shape is.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2016 

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