Larval Fish Community in the Northwestern Iberian Upwelling System during the Summer Period

The Galician shelf (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) is a highly dynamic area with an important multi-species fisheries industry that exploits resources from several habitats, characterized by being not only highly diverse, rich, and productive but also seasonally and interannually variable. Early life stages of different species are distributed throughout the year, with fluctuating abundances and community composition. Likewise, the influence of environmental factors and processes on larval production and survival remains unknown. Sampling was carried out in July 2012, and all the larvae obtained were identified to establish the specific composition of the community in a summer upwelling scenario. The results show no zonation in the species distribution, a consequence of the mixing effects of the upwelling and eddies, with high diversity but low abundance, which render in a slight predominance of a few species. Due to the dependence of planktonic populations on upwelling events, which was not highly pronounced in 2012, we cannot conclude that this was a typical conformation of the Galician summer larval fish community, but it is a first approach to comprehend the community composition.

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Rapid quantitative assessment of fish larvae community composition using metabarcoding

10.1101/2020.01.01.884544 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Frances C. Ratcliffe ◽

Tamsyn M. Uren Webster ◽

Deiene Rodriguez-Barreto ◽

Richard O’Rorke ◽

Carlos Garcia de Leaniz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Early Life ◽

High Throughput Sequencing ◽

Fish Larvae ◽

Morphological Identification ◽

Taxon Richness ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Abundance Estimates ◽

Family Level

AbstractClimate change stressors greatly impact the early life-stages of many organisms but their cryptic morphology often renders them difficult to monitor using morphological identification. High-throughput sequencing of DNA amplicons (metabarcoding) is potentially a rapid and cost-effective method to monitor early life-stages for management and environmental impact assessment purposes. Yet, there is conflicting information about the quantitative capability of metabarcoding. We compared metabarcoding with traditional morphological identification to evaluate taxonomic precision and reliability of abundance estimates, using 332 fish larvae from multinet hauls (0-50m depth) collected at 14 offshore sampling sites in the Irish and Celtic seas. To improve relative abundance estimates, the amount of tissue for each specimen was standardised and mitochondrial primers with conserved binding sites were used. Family level correction factors for amplification bias and back-calculations were applied to estimate numbers of individuals of a given taxon in a sample. Estimates from metabarcoding reads and morphological assessment were positively correlated for relative family abundances as well as taxon richness (Rs=0.81, P=0.007) and diversity (Rs=0.88, P=0.003). After applying family level correction, back-estimates of the number of individuals per family within a sample were accurate to ± 2 individuals. Spatial patterns of community composition did not differ significantly between metabarcoding and morphological assessments.Our results show that DNA metabarcoding of bulk tissue samples can be used to monitor changes in fish larvae abundance and community composition. This represents a feasible, efficient and faster alternative to morphological identification that can be applied to terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

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The early life history of fish—there is still a lot of work to do!

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fst219 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 71 (4) ◽

pp. 907-908 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Howard I. Browman ◽

Anne Berit Skiftesvik

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Early Life ◽

Larval Fish ◽

Fish Larvae ◽

Early Life History ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

History Of ◽

Fish Early Life Stages

Abstract The themed set of articles that follows this introduction contains a selection of the papers that were presented at the 36th Annual Larval Fish Conference (ALFC), convened in Osøyro, Norway, 2–6 July 2012. The conference was organized around four theme sessions, three of which are represented with articles in this collection: “Assessing the relative contribution of different sources of mortality in the early life stages of fishes”; “The contribution of mechanistic,behavioural, and physiological studies on fish larvae to ecosystem models”; “Effects of oil and natural gas surveys, extraction activity and spills on fish early life stages”. Looking back at the main themes of earlier conferences about the early life history of fish reveals that they were not very different from those of ALFC2012. Clearly, we still have a lot of work to do on these and other topics related to the biology and ecology of fish early life stages.

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Life history strategy and impacts of environmental variability on early life stages of two marine fishes in the North Sea: an individual-based modelling approach

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f10-164 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 68 (3) ◽

pp. 426-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Ute Daewel ◽

Myron A. Peck ◽

Corinna Schrum

Keyword(s):

North Sea ◽

Early Life ◽

Environmental Variability ◽

Larval Fish ◽

Transport Processes ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

The North ◽

The North Sea ◽

Fish Survival

We employed a suite of coupled models to estimate the influence of environmental variability in the North Sea on early life stages of sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ), a small pelagic clupeid, and Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), a demersal gadoid. Environmentally driven changes in bottom-up processes were projected to impact the survival and growth of eggs and larvae of these marine fish species in markedly different ways. We utilized a spatially explicit, individual-based model (IBM) to estimate larval fish survival and a 3D ecosystem model (ECOSMO) to provide variable prey fields. The model was applied to each of 3 years (1990, 1992, 1996) specifically characterized by interannual differences in water temperature in late winter and spring. Our results indicated that an important mechanism connecting environmental factors to larval fish survival was the match–mismatch dynamics of first-feeding larvae and their prey, which was species-specific because of (i) differences in the timing and locations of spawning, (ii) the duration of endogenously feeding life stages, and (iii) prey thresholds required for larval survival. Differences in transport processes also played an important role for the potential survival of larvae of both species.

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Research on early life stages of fish: a lively field

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13491 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 650 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

IA Catalán ◽

P Reglero ◽

I Álvarez

Keyword(s):

Early Life ◽

Larval Fish ◽

Larval Settlement ◽

Research Work ◽

Fish Ecology ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Mortality Estimation ◽

Process Understanding ◽

Intense Research

The first weeks in life are crucial for the fate of fish. During this period, fish show large dispersal rates and suffer from massive mortality due mainly to predation. Intrinsic and extrinsic processes (growth rates, advection, behavior, diseases) affect this mortality and have profound consequences on populations. For a century now, describing the distribution, physiology and dynamics of fish early life phases has been the focus of intense research, building a solid community of scientists that met at the 43rd Annual Larval Fish Conference, held in Palma, Spain, 21-24 May 2019. The present Theme Section consists of 19 papers that are a sample of the research presented at the conference. The papers are organized around 5 main topics: (1) mortality estimation and process understanding, (2) parental effects on larval fish ecology, (3) larval settlement to juvenile grounds, (4) early life stages of fish within food webs, and (5) contribution of early life stages of fish to assessment and management. Contributions to this Theme Section focus on hot topics as well as old paradigms; the latter continue to elicit much research work, which has benefited from recent advances in technology.

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Larval fish community composition and distribution of the central-southern Mediterranean under summer and winter conditions

Acta Ichthyologica Et Piscatoria ◽

10.3750/aiep/02957 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (3) ◽

pp. 313-324

Author(s):

Rafik ZARRAD ◽

Rodriguez José-Maria ◽

Alemany Francisco ◽

Charef Aymen ◽

Jarboui Othman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Fish Community ◽

Larval Fish ◽

Winter Conditions ◽

Fish Community Composition ◽

Southern Mediterranean

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Assemblage Structure of Larval Fishes in Epipelagic and Mesopelagic Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2021.766369 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Verena H. Wang ◽

Carley R. Zapfe ◽

Frank J. Hernandez

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Early Life ◽

Fish Assemblages ◽

Larval Fish ◽

Critical Role ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Northern Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Larval Fishes

The early life stages of fishes play a critical role in pelagic food webs and oceanic carbon cycling, yet little is known about the taxonomic composition and distribution of larval fishes in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) below the epipelagic (<200 m). Here, we provide the first large-scale characterization of larval fish assemblages in the GOM across epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic regions (0–1,500 m), using samples collected during the Natural Resource Damage Assessment conducted following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS). These data contain > 130,000 ichthyoplankton specimens from depth-discrete plankton samples collected across 48 stations in the GOM during six cruises conducted in 2010 and 2011. We examined indices of abundance and diversity, and used a multivariate regression tree approach to model the relationship between larval fish assemblages and environmental conditions. The total abundance of larval fish followed a generally decreasing trend with increasing depth, and family-level richness and diversity were significantly higher in the epipelagic than mesopelagic and bathypelagic regions. Fourteen distinct assemblage groups were identified within the epipelagic, with depth, surface salinity, and season contributing to the major branches separating groups. Within the mesopelagic, seven distinct assemblage groups were identified and were largely explained by variation in depth, season, and surface temperature. Bathypelagic assemblages were poorly described by environmental conditions. The most common epipelagic assemblage groups were widely distributed across the GOM, as were all mesopelagic assemblage groups, suggesting limited horizontal structuring of GOM larval fishes. Of the mesopelagic-associated fish taxa, four dominant families (Myctophidae, Gonostomatidae, Sternoptychidae, Phosichthyidae) comprised the majority of the catch in both the epipelagic (63%) and combined mesopelagic and bathypelagic (97%) regions. Dufrêne-Legendre indicator analysis confirmed that these dominant families were characteristic of epipelagic and mesopelagic assemblages; the larvae of less common mesopelagic-associated families largely identified with epipelagic assemblage groups. A lack of baseline data about the distribution patterns of early life stages of mesopelagic fishes in the GOM was apparent following the DWHOS, and these findings provide a valuable reference point in the face of future ecosystem stressors.

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Toxicity testing of crude oil and fuel oil using early life stages of the black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegelii)

Biology & Environment Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy ◽

10.3318/bioe.2011.20 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 112 (1) ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Anglv Shen ◽

Fenghua Tang ◽

Wantu Xu ◽

Xinqiang Shen

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Early Life ◽

Toxicity Testing ◽

Fuel Oil ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Acanthopagrus Schlegelii ◽

Black Porgy

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Abundance of Pelagia noctiluca early life stages in the western Mediterranean Sea scales with surface chlorophyll

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13423 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

D Ottmann ◽

D Álvarez-Berastegui ◽

L Prieto ◽

R Balbín ◽

F Alemany ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Early Life ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Western Mediterranean Sea ◽

Pelagia Noctiluca

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Dissolved oxygen and temperature best predict deep-sea fish community structure in the Gulf of California with climate change implications

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13240 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 637 ◽

pp. 159-180

Author(s):

ND Gallo ◽

M Beckwith ◽

CL Wei ◽

LA Levin ◽

L Kuhnz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Community Structure ◽

Community Composition ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Gulf Of California ◽

Fish Community ◽

Demersal Fish ◽

Fish Community Structure ◽

Explained Variance

Natural gradient systems can be used to examine the vulnerability of deep-sea communities to climate change. The Gulf of California presents an ideal system for examining relationships between faunal patterns and environmental conditions of deep-sea communities because deep-sea conditions change from warm and oxygen-rich in the north to cold and severely hypoxic in the south. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ‘Doc Ricketts’ was used to conduct seafloor video transects at depths of ~200-1400 m in the northern, central, and southern Gulf. The community composition, density, and diversity of demersal fish assemblages were compared to environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that climate-relevant variables (temperature, oxygen, and primary production) have more explanatory power than static variables (latitude, depth, and benthic substrate) in explaining variation in fish community structure. Temperature best explained variance in density, while oxygen best explained variance in diversity and community composition. Both density and diversity declined with decreasing oxygen, but diversity declined at a higher oxygen threshold (~7 µmol kg-1). Remarkably, high-density fish communities were observed living under suboxic conditions (<5 µmol kg-1). Using an Earth systems global climate model forced under an RCP8.5 scenario, we found that by 2081-2100, the entire Gulf of California seafloor is expected to experience a mean temperature increase of 1.08 ± 1.07°C and modest deoxygenation. The projected changes in temperature and oxygen are expected to be accompanied by reduced diversity and related changes in deep-sea demersal fish communities.

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