Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T01:27:37.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Tracking movements of deep demersal fishes in the Porcupine Seabight, north-east Atlantic Ocean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P.M. Bagley
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen, Department of Zoology, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB9 2TN
A. Smith
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen, Department of Zoology, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB9 2TN
I.G. Priede
Affiliation:
University of Aberdeen, Department of Zoology, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB9 2TN

Abstract

Miniature acoustic transponders wrapped in bait were deployed on the sea floor in the continental rise and slope regions of the Porcupine Seabight during August 1992. These were ingested by Centroscymnus coelolepis (Chondrichthyes, Selachii) at 1517–1650 m depth, Antimora rostrata (Osteichthyes, Moridae) at 2020–2501 m depth, and Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus (Osteichthyes, Macrouridae) at 2501–4050 m depth. Fish with baits in their stomachs were tracked using a scanning sonar deployed on the sea floor. All fish had moved out of range of the sonar (500 m) within 3–9 h of the bait reaching the sea floor, indicating no site fidelity. Swimming speed of C. (N.) armatus increased with depth from 0056 m s-1 at 2500 m to 0·109 m s-1 at 4000 m. This is partially explained by a bigger-deeper trend in fish size.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1994

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

Armstrong, J.D., Bagley, P.M. & Priede, I.G., 1992. Photographic and acoustic tracking observations of the behaviour of the grenadier Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus, the eel Synaphobranchus bathybius, and other abyssal demersal fish in the North Atlantic Ocean. Marine Biology, 112, 535544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, J.D. & Baldwin, R.B., 1990. A method for testing retention of transmitters by deep-sea fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 36, 273274.Google Scholar
Armstrong, J.D., Priede, I.G. & Smith, K.L. Jr, 1991. Temporal change in foraging behaviour of the fish Corphaenoides (Nematonurus) yaquinae in the central North Pacific. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 76,195199.Google Scholar
Bagley, P.M., 1992. A code-activated transponder for the individual identification and tracking of deep-sea fish. In Wildlife telemetry: remote monitoring and tracking of animals (ed. I.G., Priede and S.M., Swift), pp. 111119. Chichester: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Cohen, D.M., 1977. Swimming performance of the gadoid fish Antimora rostrata at 2400 meters. Deep-Sea Research, 24, 275277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dusenberry, D.B., 1989. Optimal search direction for an animal flying or swimming in a wind or current. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 15, 25112519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, K.V., 1981. Nine-term equation for sound speed in the oceans. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 70, 807812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merrett, N.R., Gordon, J.D.M., Stehmann, M. & Haedrich, R.L., 1991a. Deep demersal fish assemblage structure in the Porcupine Seabight (eastern North Atlantic): slope sampling by three different trawls compared. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 71, 329358.Google Scholar
Merrett, N.R., Haedrich, R.L., Gordon, J.D.M. & Stehmann, M., 1991b. Deep demersal fish assemblage structure in the Porcupine Seabight (eastern North Atlantic): results of single warp trawling at lower slope to abyssal soundings. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 71, 359373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polloni, P., Haedrich, R., Rowe, G. & Clifford, C.H., 1979. The size-depth relationship in deep ocean animals. Internationale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie, 64, 3946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, E.C.E., Solomon, D.J. & Buckley, A.A., 1992. Estuarine movements of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in Christchurch Harbour, southern England. In Wildlife telemetry: remote monitoring and tracking of animals (ed. I.G., Priede and S.M., Swift), pp. 400409. Chichester: Ellis Horwood.Google Scholar
Priede, I.G., Bagley, P.M., Armstrong, J.D., Smith, K.L. Jr & Merrett, N.R., 1991. Direct measurement of active dispersal of food-falls by deep-sea demersal fishes. Nature, London, 351, 647649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priede, I.G., Bagley, P.M., Smith, A., Creasey, S. & Merrett, N.R., 1994a. Scavenging deep demersal fishes of the Porcupine Seabight (north-east Atlantic Ocean): observations by baited camera, trap and trawl. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 74, 481498.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priede, I.G., Bagley, P.M. & Smith, K.L. Jr, 1994b. Seasonal change in activity of abyssal demersal scavenging grenadiers Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus at baits deployed in eastern North Pacific Ocean. Limnology and Oceanography, 39, 279290.Google Scholar
Priede, I.G. & Smith, K.L. Jr, 1986. Behaviour of the abyssal grenadier, Coryphaenoides yaquinae, monitored using ingestible acoustic transmitters in the Pacific Ocean. Journal of Fish Biology, 29, supplement A, 199206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priede, I.G., Smith, K.L. Jr & Armstrong, J.D., 1990. Foraging behaviour of abyssal grenadier fish: influences from acoustic tagging and tracking in the North Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research, 37, 81101.Google Scholar
Schmidt-Nielsen, K., 1984. Scaling: why is animal size so important? Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar