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Length–depth relations of Enchelyopus cimbrius fourbeard rockling (Gadiformes: Phycidae) from the southern Gulf of St Lawrence and Cabot Strait in relation to abiotic factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Eliane Aubry ,
D.A. Methven  and
Tom Hurlbut
Eliane Aubry
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 4L5
D.A. Methven*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology and Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 4L5
Tom Hurlbut
Affiliation:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Gulf Region, Gulf Fisheries Centre, PO Box 5030, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1C 9B6
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: D.A. Methven, Department of Biology and Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 4L5 email: dmethven@unbsj.ca
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Abstract

Research vessel survey data collected by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence (1971–2002) and Cabot Strait (1994–1997) were analysed to determine if Enchelyopus cimbrius the fourbeard rockling, distributed itself with larger individuals occurring in deeper water. A positive size–depth relationship was first observed for the European plaice, Pleuronectes platessa in the North Sea and has been reported for other fish. Positive relationships were found between the total length of E. cimbrius and depths where it occurred in this study. However, the biological relationship was not significant since the linear regression slopes were very weak, explaining less than approximately five per cent of the variance observed. Data were analysed further to determine the water depth, temperature and salinity ranges where the fourbeard rockling was most abundant. Enchelyopus cimbrius occurred throughout the depth-ranges sampled with highest catches occurring at 25–50 m (southern Gulf of St Lawrence) and deeper than 200 m (southern Gulf of St Lawrence and Cabot Strait). Low catches at intermediate depths (~50–100 m) in the southern Gulf of St Lawrence may have been due to the lack of suitable mud substrate and colder bottom temperatures in the Magdalen Shallows, a large central region of the southern Gulf. Enchelyopus cimbrius was mostly caught at relatively narrow temperature and salinity ranges of 4–6°C and 34–34.9 ppt in both regions, and only occurred in areas with a mud substratum, predominantly in the eastern Northumberland Strait, Baie des Chaleurs and in the deeper water of the Cape Breton Trough, Laurentian Channel and Cabot Strait. Enchelyopus cimbrius was caught throughout the day and night, contradicting a previous study that characterized it as being nocturnal in shallow coastal waters off Newfoundland.

Keywords

length–depth relationsEnchelyopus cimbriussouthern Gulf of St LawrenceCabot Straitabiotic factors
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 8 , December 2009 , pp. 1643 - 1653
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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