First record of vertical movements of the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) as evidenced by pop-up satellite tags in the Upper Gulf of California

2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-151
Author(s):  
Cristina Hernández-Tlapale ◽  
Juan Antonio De-Anda-Montañez ◽  
Armando Trasviña-Castro ◽  
Fausto Valenzuela-Quiñonez ◽  
James T. Ketchum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Linear Displacement ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Vertical Movements ◽  
Preferred Temperature ◽  
Fishery Resource ◽  
Totoaba Macdonaldi

AbstractThe description of the movements and habitat preference of marine fishes is essential to understand their biology and in the evaluation of commercially exploited species and the conservation of endangered ones. In this regard, little is known about the movements of the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), despite its being listed as critically endangered and having been a relevant fishery resource in the past century in Mexico. Totoaba is a fish species endemic to the Gulf of California characterized by late maturation, prolonged life and annual reproduction. Totoaba has maintained its known historical distribution range, although its movements and habitat occupancy in the water column have remained poorly understood. The present study describes, for the first time and at a daily fine scale, the vertical movements and habitat preferences of the totoaba in the Upper Gulf of California. Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were used to record depth and temperature at 4-minute intervals. Ten individuals were caught and tagged in May 2016 in the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve. All PSATs were either prematurely released or lost. Data derived from two recovered tags that saved data for 43 and 75 tracking days, respectively, were analysed. The results showed that tagged fishes moved southward to the vicinity of Angel de la Guarda Island; these are consistent with spatial displacement patterns reported in the literature, with a linear displacement of 223 km from deployment to pop-up sites. Fish spent 47% of the time within a depth range of 25–35 m. Depth increased to 70 m for one fish in early summer (late June). The preferred temperature of fishes ranged between 21–23°C. A generalized linear model revealed that vertical movement was influenced by temperature. The vertical displacement of the totoaba shows a diurnal variation that may be associated with the distribution of its prey. Further work is needed to test this hypothesis with a larger number of organisms.

Hydrographic Changes in Nares Strait (Canadian Arctic Archipelago) in Recent Decades Based on δ18O Profiles of Bivalve Shells

ARCTIC ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta E. Torres ◽  
Daniela Zima ◽  
Kelly K. Falkner ◽  
Robie W. Macdonald ◽  
Mary O'Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Nares Strait ◽  
The North ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Oxygen Isotopic ◽  
Bivalve Shells

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Nares Strait is one of three main passages of the Canadian Archipelago that channel relatively fresh seawater from the Arctic Ocean through Baffin Bay to the Labrador Sea. Oxygen isotopic profiles along the growth axis of bivalve shells, collected live over the 5 – 30 m depth range from the Greenland and Ellesmere Island sides of the strait, were used to reconstruct changes in the hydrography of the region over the past century. The variability in oxygen isotope ratios is mainly attributed to variations in salinity and suggests that the northern end of Nares Strait has been experiencing an increase in freshwater runoff since the mid 1980s. The recent changes are most pronounced at the northern end of the strait and diminish toward the south, a pattern consistent with proximity to the apparently freshening Arctic Ocean source in the north and mixing with Baffin Bay waters as the water progresses southward. This increasing freshwater signal may reflect changes in circulation and ice formation that favor an increased flow of relatively fresh waters from the Arctic Ocean into Nares Strait. </span>

Genotypic and phenotypic variability of Zostera marina on the west coast of North America

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1361-1371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. H. Backman
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Zostera Marina ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Wide Range

The relation between environmental factors and leaf morphology of Zostera marina L. have long been unclear, primarily because the species is intrinsically variable. The common-garden method was used to determine the genetic, environmental, and interaction components of leaf size variation. Zostera marina consists of several ecotypes with a wide range of phenotypic plasticity. Variation in the morphology of Z. marina was of three types: genetic, accounting for 14% across the localities studied; environmental (phenotypic plasticity along temporal and spatial gradients), accounting for 32%; and interaction between genotype and environmental, acounting for 35%. Five ecotypes were described for the North American Pacific coast: Z. marina L. var. izembekensis Backman, Z. marina L. var. typica Setchell, Z. marina L. var. phillipsii Backman, Z. marina L. var. latifolia Morong, Z. marina L. var. atàm Backman. Temporal variation was due to seasonal phenotypic changes in ecotypes. Zostera marina var. izembekensis showed little seasonal morphological changes; Z. marina var. typica demonstrated minor increase in leaf size in spring and summer. Zostera marina var. phillipsii and Z. marina var. latifolia behaved similarly in that leaf size of both increased markedly in spring through early summer. Zostera marina var. phillipsii is adapted to Hood Canal and Puget Sound while Z. marina var. latifolia occupies the outer coast. Zostera marina var. atàm exhibits sexual reproduction exclusively and is specifically adapted to the Gulf of California. Key words: seagrasses, common-garden experiment, ecotypes, morphometrics, genotypes.

Feeding of the least, crested, and parakeet auklets around St. Lawrence Island, Alaska

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1025-1050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Bédard
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Feeding Apparatus ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Aethia Cristatella ◽  
Prey Items

The feeding habits of three plankton-feeding Alcidae, the least, crested, and parakeet auklets were studied on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, between 1964 and 1966. The crested and the least auklets (Aethia cristatella, A. pusilla) exhibit similar patterns of dependence upon the food resources: both have, during early summer, a diversified diet consisting of mysids, hyperiids, gammarids, etc., but restrict themselves largely to one principal prey during the chick-rearing period. Then, A. pusilla eats mostly Calanus sp. while A. cristatella eats Thysanoessa spp. In all years, hatching coincided closely with the appearance of these prey items (copepods and euphausids) in the environment and it is argued that the timing of the auklets' breeding season has been adjusted to their cyclical abundance. Cyclorrhynchus psittacula, the parakeet auklet, maintains a diversified diet throughout the summer: Parathemisto libellula, a pelagic amphipod, is the dominant prey in its diet.The three species are found feeding together and are presumed to use the same depth range. Segregation in feeding between A. cristatella and A. pusilla is achieved by difference in bill size. This difference is sufficient to impose obligatory feeding upon different resources. Segregation between two possible competitors, A. cristatella and Cyclorrhynchus, seems to rest upon innate preferences for different prey types, minor structural differences in the feeding apparatus, and differences in foraging habits: the relative importance of each of these factors remains to be established.As a whole, the amount of overlap in feeding between the three species studied is very small.

Environmental Effects on the Distributions of Groundfish in Hecate Strait, British Columbia

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 1401-1409 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ian Perry ◽  
Max Stocker ◽  
Jeff Fargo
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Sediment Type ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Pacific Halibut ◽  
Gadus Macrocephalus ◽  
Hippoglossus Stenolepis ◽  
By Catch ◽  
Groundfish Fishery ◽  
Variable Condition

Hecate Strait, British Columbia, is an area of variable topography with a variety of bottom habitats, which supports an important mixed-species groundfish fishery. A previous analysis identified three characteristic assemblages of groundfish species. In the present study, we identify relationships between the dominant species of these assemblages and environmental conditions in early summer 1989 and 1991: bottom type and depth (invariant conditions) and temperature (a variable condition). Three categories of species were identified: (i) those consistently associated with particular depths and temperatures between years, (ii) those with variable depth and temperature associations, and (iii) those with no apparent relationships to depth, temperature, or sediment type. Category (i) was dominated by flatfishes and could be further separated into groups associated with deep and cool, shallow and warm, and intermediate depth and temperature conditions. Category (ii) included roundfishes plus Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and were widely distributed. At least one species (Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus)) tended to maintain a particular temperature range while changing its depth range between years. Identification of significant associations between fish species and habitat conditions is the first step towards incorporating environmental information into survey abundance indices and reducing by-catch problems.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing Habitat Selection of Three Cryptobenthic Clingfish Species in the Shallow North Adriatic Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 789
Author(s):  
Domen Trkov ◽  
Danijel Ivajnšič ◽  
Marcelo Kovačić ◽  
Lovrenc Lipej
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Distribution Limit ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
The Past ◽  
Microhabitat Preferences ◽  
Rocky Bottoms ◽  
North Adriatic Sea ◽  
Selection Of

Cryptobenthic fishes were often overlooked in the past due to their cryptic lifestyle, so knowledge of their ecology is still incomplete. One of the most poorly studied taxa of fishes in the Mediterranean Sea is clingfish. In this paper we examine the habitat preferences of three clingfish species (Lepadogaster lepadogaster, L. candolii, and Apletodon incognitus) occurring in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic). The results show that all three species have a cryptic lifestyle and are well-segregated based on their depth distribution and macro- and microhabitat preferences. L. lepadogaster inhabits shallow waters of the lower mediolittoral and upper infralittoral, where it occurs on rocky bottoms under stones. L. candolii similarly occurs in the rocky infralittoral under stones, but below the lower distribution limit of L. lepadogaster, and in seagrass meadows, where it occupies empty seashells. Such hiding places in seagrass meadows are also occupied by A. incognitus, which mostly occurs below the lower distribution limit of L. candolii. Despite the overlap of depth and macrohabitat, the probability of individuals of two species encountering each other or competing in the same habitat is low when the depth range is combined with the microhabitat preferences of these species.

scholarly journals Horizontal and Vertical Movement Patterns and Habitat Use of Juvenile Porbeagles (Lamna nasus) in the Western North Atlantic

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Skomal ◽  
Heather Marshall ◽  
Benjamin Galuardi ◽  
Lisa Natanson ◽  
Camrin D. Braun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Shelf ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Vertical Movement ◽  
Vertical Movements ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of

The porbeagle (Lamna nasus) is a large, highly migratory endothermic shark broadly distributed in the higher latitudes of the Atlantic, South Pacific, and Indian Oceans. In the North Atlantic, the porbeagle has a long history of fisheries exploitation and current assessments indicate that this stock is severely overfished. Although much is known of the life history of this species, there is little fisheries-independent information about habitat preferences and ecology. To examine migratory routes, vertical behavior, and environmental associations in the western North Atlantic, we deployed pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags on 20 porbeagles in late November, 2006. The sharks, ten males and ten females ranging from 128 to 154 cm fork length, were tagged and released from a commercial longline fishing vessel on the northwestern edge of Georges Bank, about 150 km east of Cape Cod, MA. The tags were programmed to release in March (n = 7), July (n = 7), and November (n = 6) of 2007, and 17 (85%) successfully reported. Based on known and derived geopositions, the porbeagles exhibited broad seasonally-dependent horizontal and vertical movements ranging from minimum linear distances of 937 to 3,310 km and from the surface to 1,300 m, respectively. All of the sharks remained in the western North Atlantic from the Gulf of Maine, the Scotian Shelf, on George's Bank, and in the deep, oceanic waters off the continental shelf along the edge of, and within, the Gulf Stream. In general, the population appears to be shelf-oriented during the summer and early fall with more expansive offshore radiation in the winter and spring. Although sharks moved through temperatures ranging from 2 to 26°C, the bulk of their time (97%) was spent in 6-20°C. In the summer months, most of the sharks were associated with the continental shelf moving between the surface and the bottom and remaining &lt; 200 m deep. In the late fall and winter months, the porbeagles moved into pelagic habitat and exhibited two behavioral patterns linked with the thermal features of the Gulf Stream: “non-divers” (n = 7) largely remained at epipelagic depths and “divers” (n = 10) made frequent dives into and remained at mesopelagic depths (200–1000 m). These data demonstrate that juvenile porbeagles are physiologically capable of exploiting the cool temperate waters of the western North Atlantic as well as the mesopelagic depths of the Gulf Stream, possibly allowing exploitation of prey not available to other predators.

scholarly journals Growth, thermal preference and critical thermal maximum for Totoaba macdonaldi: effect of acclimation temperature and inclusion of soybean meal in the diet

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-271
Author(s):  
Eloy Eduardo Yen Ortega ◽  
Juan Gabriel Correa Reyes ◽  
Mónica Hernández Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Soybean Meal ◽  
Biological Indicators ◽  
Acclimation Temperature ◽  
Critical Thermal Maximum ◽  
Preferred Temperature ◽  
Thermal Maximum ◽  
Diet Control ◽  
Totoaba Macdonaldi ◽  
Species Performance

We studied the interaction effect between temperature 23 and 26°C, and replacing fishmeal for soybean meal (SBM): 32, 43, and 56% vs. a diet control on culture performance, thermal behavior, and critical thermal maximum (CTMax) of juvenile Totoaba macdonaldi. Fish were fed to apparent satiation three times daily for 61 days. The results showed that temperature had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on weight gain, percent weight gain, and specific growth rate, which were all higher in fish acclimated at 26°C. The preferred temperature ranged between 26.4 and 27.7°C, significantly influenced by acclimation temperature (P < 0.05) but not by diet. CTMax was influenced by acclimation temperature and SBM in the diet. Fish resistance decreased when the percent SBM in the diet was higher. Information on biological indicators for T. macdonaldi adds to the knowledge of a key Mexican species. Our study demonstrated that the use of SBM as an alternative to fishmeal in the diet and the interaction with temperature as a factor could affect this species' performance.

scholarly journals Nutritional content of Totoaba macdonaldi (Gilbert, 1890), Antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in muscle

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11129
Author(s):  
Priscila Conde-Guerrero ◽  
Lia C. Méndez-Rodríguez ◽  
Juan A. de Anda-Montañez ◽  
Tania Zenteno-Savín
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Lipid Peroxidation ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Antioxidant Enzyme Activities ◽  
Stress Indicators ◽  
Sea Temperature ◽  
The North ◽  
Totoaba Macdonaldi ◽  
Oxidative Stress Indicators

Background Totoaba, Totoaba macdonaldi, is an endemic species of the Gulf of California, where wide variations in sea temperature throughout the year, surface salinities that gradually increase towards the north, and contamination by discharge of wastewater have been recorded. In addition to the challenges of reproduction and swimming, its characteristic biannual migration presents totoaba with changes in environmental factors that could affect oxidative stress indicators. The objective of this study was to assess spatial and seasonal changes in the oxidative stress indicators in muscle samples of totoaba. Methods Reactive oxygen species production, antioxidant enzyme activities and lipid peroxidation levels were quantified by spectrophotometry. Results Results suggest spatial-temporal variations of the oxidative stress indicators in muscle of totoaba that may be associated to a complex interaction between environmental and biological factors, including reproduction and nutrient availability. These results contribute to explain the appeal of totoaba as a marketable meat and suggest totoaba may provide antioxidant nutrients to consumers.

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