Imants G. Priede

Metabolic Scope in Fishes

It is axiomatic in modern zoology to suppose that natural selection has shaped animals so as to perform their functions as efficiently as possible. Any adaptation, physiological or behavioural, which can be shown to save energy, is assumed to be adaptive. A fish, for example, that uses less energy for ventilating its gills than another of the same species will be able to use the energy saved to grow faster and produce more eggs. The efficient genotype is therefore selected (Alexander, 1967). It is now thought that much of animal foraging behaviour can be explained by so-called ‘optimal foraging theory’, whereby the animal behaves in such a manner as to maximize the ratio of energy income over energy expenditure.

Chemoreception in fishes

Structure and Function. Chemoreceptive Mechanisms. The Role of Chemoreception in Feeding. Role of Chemoreception in Social Behavior and Migration. Chemoreception and Water Pollution. Subject Index.

Does Presence of a Mid-Ocean Ridge Enhance Biomass and Biodiversity?

In contrast to generally sparse biological communities in open-ocean settings, seamounts and ridges are perceived as areas of elevated productivity and biodiversity capable of supporting commercial fisheries. We investigated the origin of this apparent biological enhancement over a segment of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) using sonar, corers, trawls, traps, and a remotely operated vehicle to survey habitat, biomass, and biodiversity. Satellite remote sensing provided information on flow patterns, thermal fronts, and primary production, while sediment traps measured export flux during 2007–2010. The MAR, 3,704,404 km2 in area, accounts for 44.7% lower bathyal habitat (800–3500 m depth) in the North Atlantic and is dominated by fine soft sediment substrate (95% of area) on a series of flat terraces with intervening slopes either side of the ridge axis contributing to habitat heterogeneity. The MAR fauna comprises mainly species known from continental margins with no evidence of greater biodiversity. Primary production and export flux over the MAR were not enhanced compared with a nearby reference station over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Biomasses of benthic macrofauna and megafauna were similar to global averages at the same depths totalling an estimated 258.9 kt C over the entire lower bathyal north MAR. A hypothetical flat plain at 3500 m depth in place of the MAR would contain 85.6 kt C, implying an increase of 173.3 kt C attributable to the presence of the Ridge. This is approximately equal to 167 kt C of estimated pelagic biomass displaced by the volume of the MAR. There is no enhancement of biological productivity over the MAR; oceanic bathypelagic species are replaced by benthic fauna otherwise unable to survive in the mid ocean. We propose that globally sea floor elevation has no effect on deep sea biomass; pelagic plus benthic biomass is constant within a given surface productivity regime.

Scavenging deep demersal fishes of the Porcupine Seabight, North-East Atlantic: observations by baited camera, trap and trawl

Demersal fishes on the continental rise and slope were sampled by trawl, baited trap and a baited camera. Seventy-one different species were trawled, but only 18 species approached baits. At rise soundings (4100 m to 2250 m) Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus was dominant at baits and comprised 41·5% of the trawl catch. On the slope ( Synaphobranchus kaupi was dominant at baits and comprised 32·7% of the trawl catch. At 1500–2501 m Antimora rostrata competed at baits and comprised 5–10% of trawl catches. At 1500–1650 m Centroscymnus coelolepis also consumed baits but was not captured by trawl. For C. (N.) armatus abundance was proportional to t arr 2 (where t arr = arrival time), demonstrating that arrival time of the first fish at baits provides an estimate of population density. Maximum estimated abundance at 2897 m was 877 km -2 , more than five times the abundance on the abyssal plain. Halosauropsis macrochir, Lepidion eques, Coryphaenoides guentheri, Gadiculus argenteus and Coryphaenoides rupestris were important in trawl samples but absent or rare at baits.

Foraging behavior of abyssal grenadier fish: inferences from acoustic tagging and tracking in the North Pacific Ocean

Abstract Abyssal grenadier fish Coryphaenoides yaquinae were Coryphaenoides armatus and observed arriving at baits deployed within view of a free-fall video vehicle (FVV) camera on the sea floor at two stations in the North Pacific, Sta. F 32°50′N, 124°W, 4400 m deep in the vicinity of the California current and Sta. CNP 31°N, 159°W, a 5900 m deep oligotrophic station. Included within each bait deployment were one or two ingestible acoustic transmitters. A total of 23 fish at Sta. F and 13 fish at Sta. CNP ingested transmitters and were tracked using an acoustic tracking system (ATEX). The number of fish within view of the camera increased to a mean maximum of 4.7 at 60 min at Sta. F and 11.8 by 400 min at Sta. CNP, a paradox in view of presumed lower fish population density at Sta. CNP. Fish that ingested transmitters moved away at radial velocities between 1 and 15 cm s−1, reaching a mean radius of 233 m by 370 min at Sta. F and 622 min at Sta. CNP. Fish appear to be active foragers with no evidence for a “sit and wait” foraging strategy. Grenadiers generally remained near the sea floor as they dispersed. Only one vertical movement to an altitude of ca 25 m was recorded and this comprised less than 0.2% of tracking time. The number of fish present at the bait was found to correspond to the following relationship: N t = α 0 x (1 − c −xf ) t ⩽ β α 0 x c −xt (c βx − 1) t > β where Nt is number of fish present at time t min after bait reaches the sea floor, α0 is initial arrival rate of fish, β is mean fish staying time and x is the bait decay constant. In accordance with optimal foraging theory staying time (β) is longer at Sta. CNP.

Hadal trenches: the ecology of the deepest places on Earth

Hadal trenches account for the deepest 45% of the oceanic depth range and host active and diverse biological communities. Advances in our understanding of hadal community structure and function have, until recently, relied on technologies that were unable to document ecological information. Renewed international interest in exploring the deepest marine environment on Earth provides impetus to re-evaluate hadal community ecology. We review the abiotic and biotic characteristics of trenches and offer a contemporary perspective of trench ecology. The application of existing, rather than the generation of novel, ecological theory offers the best prospect of understanding deep ocean ecology.

The fate of cetacean carcasses in the deep sea: observations on consumption rates and succession of scavenging species in the abyssal north-east Atlantic Ocean

The fate of cetacean carcasses in the deep sea was investigated using autonomous deep–sea lander vehicles incorporating time–lapse camera systems, fish and amphipod traps. Three lander deployments placed cetacean carcasses at depths of 4000 to 4800 m in the north–east Atlantic for periods of 36 h, 152 h and 276 h before being recovered. The photographic sequences revealed that carcasses were rapidly consumed by fish and invertebrate scavengers with removal rates ranging from 0.05 to 0.4 kg h-1. In the longest experiment the carcass was skeletonized within five days. In each deployment, approximately an hour after emplacement, the grenadier Coryphaenoides (Nematonurus) armatus and large numbers of lysianassid amphipods had arrived at the food–fall. The initially high numbers of grenadiers declined once the majority of the bait had been consumed and a variety of other fish and invertebrates were then observed, some taking up residence at the site. None of the fish species appeared to consume the carcass directly, but preyed upon amphipods instead. Funnel traps recovered with the carcass indicated a succession in the species composition of amphipods, with the specialist necrophages such as Paralicella spp. being replaced by more generalist feeders of the Orchomene species complex.

Use of Physiological Telemetry as a Method of Estimating Metabolism of Fish in the Natural Environment

Abstract One of the most difficult components to measure in the energy budgets of natural fish populations is the energy released in metabolism. Telemetry of physiological correlates of metabolism, such as heart rate, can (with calibration) enable direct measurements of metabolism and simultaneous observations of behavior in the natural environment. Heart rate is a good indicator of metabolic rate for northern pike Esox lucius and was used to obtain information on metabolism, activity, and food intake in the natural environment. Mean field metabolic rates were 1.5 times standard metabolic rate. Activity metabolism accounted for 5–10% of total metabolism and was approximately an order of magnitude greater than estimates based on mean swimming speed derived from location tracking. Feeding metabolism was 15–25% of total metabolism. Even when the full metabolic rate calibration is not considered. physiological telemetry can provide useful information on patterns of energy expenditure ofdirect relevance to bio...

Long-term changes in deep-water fish populations in the northeast Atlantic: a deeper reaching effect of fisheries?

A severe scarcity of life history and population data for deep-water fishes is a major impediment to successful fisheries management. Long-term data for non-target species and those living deeper than the fishing grounds are particularly rare. We analysed a unique dataset of scientific trawls made from 1977 to 1989 and from 1997 to 2002, at depths from 800 to 4800 m. Over this time, overall fish abundance fell significantly at all depths from 800 to 2500 m, considerably deeper than the maximum depth of commercial fishing (approx. 1600 m). Changes in abundance were significantly larger in species whose ranges fell at least partly within fished depths and did not appear to be consistent with any natural factors such as changes in fluxes from the surface or the abundance of potential prey. If the observed decreases in abundance are due to fishing, then its effects now extend into the lower bathyal zone, resulting in declines in areas that have been previously thought to be unaffected. A possible mechanism is impacts on the shallow parts of the ranges of fish species, resulting in declines in abundance in the lower parts of their ranges. This unexpected phenomenon has important consequences for fisheries and marine reserve management, as this would indicate that the impacts of fisheries can be transmitted into deep offshore areas that are neither routinely monitored nor considered as part of the managed fishery areas.

The absence of sharks from abyssal regions of the world's oceans

The oceanic abyss (depths greater than 3000 m), one of the largest environments on the planet, is characterized by absence of solar light, high pressures and remoteness from surface food supply necessitating special molecular, physiological, behavioural and ecological adaptations of organisms that live there. Sampling by trawl, baited hooks and cameras we show that the Chondrichthyes (sharks, rays and chimaeras) are absent from, or very rare in this region. Analysis of a global data set shows a trend of rapid disappearance of chondrichthyan species with depth when compared with bony fishes. Sharks, apparently well adapted to life at high pressures are conspicuous on slopes down to 2000 m including scavenging at food falls such as dead whales. We propose that they are excluded from the abyss by high-energy demand, including an oil-rich liver for buoyancy, which cannot be sustained in extreme oligotrophic conditions. Sharks are apparently confined to ca 30% of the total ocean and distribution of many species is fragmented around sea mounts, ocean ridges and ocean margins. All populations are therefore within reach of human fisheries, and there is no hidden reserve of chondrichthyan biomass or biodiversity in the deep sea. Sharks may be more vulnerable to over-exploitation than previously thought.