Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:15:51.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

First data on age and sexual maturity of the Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus (Bovichtidae) from Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2011

Mario La Mesa*
Affiliation:
CNR-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, ISMAR Istituto di Scienze Marine, sede di Ancona, Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy
Joseph T. Eastman
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979, USA

Abstract

The Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus, an endemic species at Tristan da Cunha Island was successfully aged using whole sagittal otoliths. The annulation pattern was clear, resulting in an alternating combination of opaque and translucent zones that form an annulus. Although sampling limitations did not allow direct validation of annual ring deposition, most otoliths showed a translucent edge, perhaps suggesting that the deposition of translucent zones is a synchronous process which takes place in winter coincident with the spawning season. The reliability of ageing methodology was supported by the good agreement between readings. The maximum age was estimated to be five years in females and four years in males. In order to increase the small number of direct readings, the length at age was back-calculated for each fish by fitting growth curves. The resulting growth of B.diacanthus was described by the von Bertalanffy growth model, as summarized by the following parameters: L = 207.1 mm TL, k = 0.49 per year, and t0 = 0.04 years. The size at which 50% of the population spawns for the first time was c. 147 mm, corresponding to 2.5 years of age.

Type
Biological Sciences
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2011

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.)

References

Andrew, T.G., Hecht, T., Heemstra, P.C.Lutjeharms, J.R.E. 1995. Fishes of the Tristan da Cunha Group and Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Ichthyological Bulletin of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 63, 143.Google Scholar
Bargelloni, L., Marcato, S., Zane, L.Patarnello, T. 2000. Mitochondrial phylogeny of notothenioids: a molecular approach to Antarctic fish evolution and biogeography. Systematic Biology, 49, 114129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beamish, R.J.Fournier, D.A. 1981. A method of comparing the precision of a set of age determinations. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 38, 982983.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bravo, R., Lloris, D., Pequeño, G.Rucabado, J. 1999. Revisión de las distintas especies del género Bovichtus (Perciformes, Bovichtidae) citadas para el cono sur americano y península Antártica. Revista de Biología Marina y Oceanografía, 34, 123137.Google Scholar
Brickle, P., Arkhipkin, A.I.Shcherbich, Z.N. 2005. Age and growth in a temperate euryhaline notothenioid, Eleginops maclovinus from the Falkland Islands. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 85, 12171221.Google Scholar
Brickle, P., Arkhipkin, A.Shcherbich, Z. 2006a. Age and growth of a sub-Antarctic notothenioid, Patagonotothen ramsayi (Regan 1913), from the Falkland Islands. Polar Biology, 29, 633639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brickle, P., Laptikhovski, V., Arkhipkin, A.Portela, J. 2006b. Reproductive biology of Patagonotothen ramsayi (Regan, 1913) (Pisces: Nototheniidae) around the Falkland Islands. Polar Biology, 29, 570580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campana, S. 1990. How reliable are growth back-calculations based on otoliths? Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 47, 22192227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlander, K.D. 1981. Caution on the use of the regression method of back-calculating lengths from scale measurements. Fisheries, 6, 24.Google Scholar
Chang, W.Y.B. 1982. A statistical method for evaluating the reproducibility of age determination. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 39, 12081210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniels, R.A. 1983. Demographic characteristics of an Antarctic plunderfish, Harpagifer bispinis antarcticus. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 13, 181187.Google Scholar
Eastman, J.T. 1993. Antarctic fish biology: evolution in an unique environment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 322 pp.Google Scholar
Eastman, J.T. 2006. Aspects of the morphology of phyletically basal bovichtid fishes of the Antarctic suborder Notothenioidei (Perciformes). Polar Biology, 29, 754763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T.Eakin, R.R. 2000. An updated species list for notothenioid fish (Perciformes; Notothenioidei), with comments on Antarctic species. Archive of Fishery and Marine Research, 48, 1120.Google Scholar
Everson, I. 1980. Antarctic fish age determination methods. BIOMASS Handbook, 8, 124.Google Scholar
Francis, R.I.C.C. 1990. Back-calculation of fish length: a critical review. Journal of Fish Biology, 36, 883902.Google Scholar
Gon, O. 1990. Bovichtidae. In Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C., eds. Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown: JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 277278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardy, G.S. 1988. A revision of Bovichtus Cuvier, 1831 (Pisces: Bovichthyidae) from Australasia, with description of a new deepwater species from the New Zealand Subantarctic. Journal of Natural History, 22, 16391655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hecht, T. 1987. A guide to the otoliths of Southern Ocean fishes. South African Journal of Antarctic Research, 17, 187.Google Scholar
Hureau, J.-C.Tomo, A.P. 1977. Bovichthys elongatus n.sp., poisson Bovichthyidae, famille nouvelle pour l'Antarctique. Cybium, 3, 6774.Google Scholar
Kock, K.-H. 1989. Reproduction in fish around Elephant Island. Archiv für Fischereiwissenschaft, 39, 171210.Google Scholar
Kock, K.-H. 1992. Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 359 pp.Google Scholar
Kock, K.-H.Kellermann, A. 1991. Reproduction in Antarctic notothenioid fish - a review. Antarctic Science, 3, 125150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Mesa, M., Caputo, V.Eastman, J.T. 2010. Reproductive biology of the Tristan klipfish, Bovichtus diacanthus (Carmichael, 1819) (Notothenioidei: Bovichtidae) from Tristan da Cunha (South Atlantic). Polar Biology, 33, 337346.Google Scholar
Mazzei, F., Ghigliotti, L., Lecointre, G., Ozouf-Costaz, C., Coutanceau, J.-C., Detrich III, H.W.Pisano, E. 2006. Karyotypes of basal lineages in notothenioid fishes: the genus Bovichtus. Polar Biology, 29, 10711076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munro, J.L.Pauly, D. 1983. A simple method for comparing growth of fishes and invertebrates. ICLARM Fishbyte, 1, 56.Google Scholar
Near, T.J.Cheng, C.-H.C. 2008. Phylogenetics of notothenioid fishes (Teleostei: Acanthomorpha): inferences from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 47, 832840.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Near, T.J., Pesavento, J.J.Cheng, C.-H.C. 2004. Phylogenetic investigations of Antarctic notothenioid fishes (Perciformes: Notothenioidei) using complete gene sequences of the mitochondrial encoded 16S rRNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 32, 881891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
North, A.W. 1988. Age of Antarctic fish: validation of the timing of annuli formation in otoliths and scales. Cybium, 12, 107114.Google Scholar
Voskoboinikova, O.S. 2004. Ontogenetic bases of the origin and of relationships of the fishes from the suborder Notothenioidei (Perciformes). Journal of Ichthyology, 44, 418432.Google Scholar