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Biology of the Antarctic dragonfish Vomeridens infuscipinnis (Notothenioidei: Bathydraconidae)

Part of: Antarctic Science International Bursary collection: Biosciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2010

Kristen L. Kuhn ,
Thomas J. Near ,
H. William Detrich III  and
Joseph T. Eastman
Kristen L. Kuhn
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8105, USA
Thomas J. Near
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8105, USA
H. William Detrich III
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Joseph T. Eastman*
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979, USA
*
*author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Nineteen specimens of the rare dragonfish Vomeridens infuscipinnis were evaluated for meristic counts, morphometric measurements, vomerine teeth and the supratemporal canal, anatomical and histological observations of bone, cartilage and lipid, diet, and reproductive status. Seven individuals were measured for buoyancy. All specimens had small vomerine teeth that varied in number. There was also variability in the arrangement of the supratemporal pores and canals. Vomeridens possess a body with little bone and considerable amounts of cartilage and lipid. A mean percentage buoyancy of 1.61% indicated that Vomeridens is nearly neutrally buoyant. Inferences from measurements of buoyancy and from morphological data suggest that Vomeridens lives in an epibenthic water column habitat at 400–900 m. Facilitated by its reduced body density, Vomeridens are likely to forage in the water column by hovering above the substrate. The stomach contents consisted of krill (Euphausia superba), some as large as 46–50 mm.The absolute and relative fecundity in seven female was 1576–2296 oocytes (mean 1889) and 21.3–28.9 oocytes g-1 body weight (mean 25.3), respectively. The reproductive effort in terms of egg diameter, GSI, and absolute and relative fecundity is similar to that for other bathydraconids.

Keywords

bone and cartilage histologybuoyancydietmeristicsreproductionsomatic lipidvomerine teeth
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 2011 , pp. 18 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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