Relative abundances and size compositions of champagne crabs, Hypothalassia acerba, on two coasts and in different water depths and seasons

2004 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim D. Smith ◽  
Norman G. Hall ◽  
Ian C. Potter

Hypothalassia acerba was sampled seasonally using traps at depths of 35, 90, 145, 200, 255, 310 and 365 m on the west and south coasts of Western Australia. Catch rates peaked at depths of 200 m on the west coast and 145 m on the south coast but at similar temperatures of 16.1–17.1°C. The west and south coast catches contained 69% and 84% males respectively. The carapace length of H. acerba declined significantly by 4 mm for each 100 m increase in depth. The maximum carapace length of males was greater than females on the west coast (135 v. 113 mm) and south coast (138 v. 120 mm). Furthermore, after adjustment to a depth of 200 m, the mean carapace lengths of males were greater than females on both the west coast (96.6 v. 94.6 mm) and south coast (101.5 v. 91.4 mm), with the difference on the south coast being significant (P < 0.001). Thus, in summary, (1) distribution was related to depth and temperature; (2) body size was inversely related to water depth; and (3) males grew larger and were caught in greater numbers than females. There was also evidence that the distribution changed slightly with season and of spatial partitioning by H. acerba and other large deep-water invertebrate predators.

Author(s):  
Donovan Kelley

A bass tagging project on the south coast of Anglesey, 1971–5, yielded 86 recoveries from 912 taggings. In addition to expected local movements a systematic pattern of seasonal migration was identified for adults. Fish present in summer moved to south Cornwall for the winter, returning in succeeding summers for spawning. Departure was normally before mid-October. Fish present after that had summered further north (reaching Furness in warm summers). These too moved south as winter advanced, though possibly not reaching Cornwall. A few solitary fish – unfit specimens or members of weak year-classes – appeared to remain through the winter. No evidence was found of movement to, or intermingling with stocks of, the Irish coast; nor, with one exception, the mainland coast of Europe. There was also no indication of movement eastward along the south coast: suggesting discrete populations there from those on the west coast.


1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Bannister

Objectives, methods, and results of a two-year aerial survey for sperm whales off the coast of Western Australia, 1963-65, are described. Data from commercial whaling operations have been included where appropriate. Sperm whales were found well off the west coast, but only in a narrow strip along the continental slope off the south coast. On both coasts, the main direction of movement was parallel to the coastline and towards Cape Leeuwin. Unexpectedly, whales off the west coast were heading mainly southwards throughout the year. Densities in the offshore area north of Perth were significantly higher than along the continental slope in the same region but similar to those along the continental slope from Perth to Cape Leeuwin. The situation was reversed on the south coast with whales being found, in high densities, only along the continental slope. Off the west coast, there were marked decreases in abundance in winter, with peaks in spring-early summer and autumn; no change in direction of movement could be related to the peaks. Average numbers calculated as present in the survey area at one time were: west coast, c. 1000 whales; south coast, c. 200 whales. South coast data indicate the passage of about 40 whales in one 24 hr period, very similar to results from whaling company aerial spotter data off Albany. The hypothesis of two separate populations of sperm whales off Western Australia is discussed and thought to be unlikely. A small amount of data on baleen whale sightings is recorded.


1872 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 665-666
Author(s):  
Alexander Buchan

So far as regards the annual amounts of the rainfall of Scotland, deduced from observations made at 296 different places, the chief point brought out is the enormous difference between the rainfall of the west and that of the east; the stations along the west coast showing such figures as 40, 45, and 54 inches, as compared with 24, 27, and 30 inches at stations on the east coast, not situated in the immediate neighbourhood of hills. When it is considered that the source of the rainfall is the prevailing south-westerly winds, it is evident that the comparative dryness of such districts as the south shore of the Firth of Forth is due to high land lying to the south-west, which drains the winds of a large portion of their moisture in their passage across them.


Author(s):  
R. C. Mossman

This great frost commenced on 28th December 1894 and terminated in its intense form on 20th February 1895, thus lasting 54 days. The greatest cold occurred from the 6th to the 20th of February. During this latter period pressure was higher in the north than in the south of Scotland, and the winds were consequently easterly or north-easterly, but light in force. Taking the two months, January and February, together, the mean temperature was more than 10° below the average at many inland places, but on the west coast it was only about 5° lower than usual. There are records of temperature in the north-east of Scotland, at either Inverness, Gordon Castle or Aberdeen for the last 132 years, and in all this time there was no winter with two such cold months as January and February 1895 at these places.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelia Perla Alessandro

This paper analyzes the incidence on temperature and precipitation of strong circulation from the west in the neighborhood of 45ºS. Circulation is estimated by a zonal index applied at 100º, 70º and 40ºW at 500 hPa and the strong circulation days by those which indices are smaller than the difference between the mean and the standard deviation of the daily indices from 1989 to 1998. When strong circulation from the west is calculated at 100º W, temperature anomalies over the country are positive in general and higher than 1ºC in southern Patagonia. Precipitation frequencies are greater than normal in southern Patagonia and the WNW of the country, and smaller in the remaining areas. Temperature anomalies are positive in practically the whole of Argentina and precipitation values greater than normal are practically confined to the south of 42ºS when the circulation from the west is more intense at 70ºW. For the same wind conditions at 40ºW, temperature anomalies are negative in Patagonia and positive in the NE and center of the country, while the greatest precipitation frequencies are found in most of the country except the western provinces. Temperature and precipitation values obtained under the analyzed conditions can be forecast with more than 69% probability when the index on 1 or 2 previous days was negative.


Author(s):  
A. Stuart

In dealing with this subject it is essential to define the high rainfall districts, and on, perusing a rainfall map it was found, contrary to expectations, that the greater part of the North Island, as represented by the Auckland Province and Taranaki, has a rainfall of over 50 inches per annum. In the same category falls the West Coast of the South Island and all of Stewart Island.


2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 1676-1688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet C. Coetzee ◽  
Carl D. van der Lingen ◽  
Laurence Hutchings ◽  
Tracey P. Fairweather

Abstract Coetzee, J. C., van der Lingen, C. D., Hutchings, L., and Fairweather, T. P. 2008. Has the fishery contributed to a major shift in the distribution of South African sardine? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1676–1688. A major shift in the distribution of South African sardine (Sardinops sagax) has resulted in a significant spatial mismatch in fishing effort vs. fish abundance in recent years. The sardine fishery started on the west coast during the 1940s, and processing capacity there increased rapidly. This trend together with increases in annual landings continued up to the early 1960s, but then the fishery collapsed as a consequence of overfishing. The population then recovered steadily during the 1980s and 1990s, coincident with, but perhaps not entirely attributable to, the inception of conservative management practices, to support catches similar to pre-collapse levels. Since 2001, however, most of the sardine population has been situated on South Africa’s south coast, far from processing facilities. Fishing effort has increased concomitantly on that coast, particularly during the past three years, reflecting the continued decline in the abundance of sardine on the west coast. Three hypotheses explaining the change in the distribution of sardine have been proposed: (i) intensely localized (i.e. west coast) fishing pressure depleted that part (or functionally distinct unit) of the population; (ii) the shift was environmentally induced; and (iii) successful spawning and recruit survival on the south coast contributed disproportionately more towards the bulk of recruitment, and progeny spawned there now dominate the population and exhibit natal homing. The first of these hypotheses is evaluated, and management implications of the shift discussed.


Author(s):  
Donovan Kelley

INTRODUCTIONPresence of O-group bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), has been recorded for a number of estuaries and tidal backwaters in the south of the United Kingdom, including the tidal Thames (Wheeler, 1979), the outer Thames at Southend (Murie, 1903), the Medway (Van den Broek, 1979), Langstone Harbour (Reay, 1973), the Dart (Dando & Demir, 1985), and the Tamar (Hartley, 1940). The author has found them, additionally, in Chichester Harbour and in the Cuckmere (Sussex), Teign and Tavy estuaries. Correspondents have reported them from the estuaries of the Blackwater (Cox), Crouch (Wiggins), Lynher (Gee) and Fal (Melhuish); also from the Fleet backwater in Dorset (Fear). It may be inferred that all estuaries and tidal backwaters on the south and south-east coasts of the U.K. constitute bass nurseries, in some degree.*


Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2B) ◽  
pp. 517-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Gallagher ◽  
E J McGee ◽  
P I Mitchell

Data on radiocarbon (14C), 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am levels in an ombrotrophic peat sequence from a montane site on the east coast of Ireland are compared with data from a similar sequence at an Atlantic peatland site on the west coast. The 14C profiles from the west and east coasts show a broadly similar pattern. Levels increase from 100 pMC or less in the deepest horizons examined, to peak values at the west and east coast sites of 117 ± 0.6 pMC and 132 ± 0.7 pMC, respectively (corresponding to maximal fallout from nuclear weapons testing around 1964), thereafter diminishing to levels of 110–113 pMC near the surface. Significantly, peak levels at the east coast site are considerably higher than corresponding levels at the west coast site, though both are lower than reported peak values for continental regions. The possibility of significant 14C enrichment at the east coast site due to past discharges from nuclear installations in the UK seems unlikely. The 210Pbex inventory at the east coast site (6500 Bq m−2) is significantly higher than at the west coast (5300 Bq m−2) and is consistent with the difference in rainfall at the two sites. Finally, 137Cs and 241Am inventories at the east coast site also exceed those at the west coast site by similar proportions (east:west ratio of approximately 1:1.2).


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