Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-dvmhs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-22T09:35:40.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Acoustic deployments reveal Antarctic silverfish under ice in the Ross Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2018

Richard L. O’Driscoll*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, Private Bag 14-901 Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand
Yoann Ladroit
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, Private Bag 14-901 Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand
Steven J. Parker
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, P.O. Box 893, Nelson 7040, New Zealand
Marino Vacchi
Affiliation:
National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Marine Sciences, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy
Simonepietro Canese
Affiliation:
Istituto Superiore per la Ricerca e la Protezione Ambientale (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati 48, 00144 Rome, Italy
Laura Ghigliotti
Affiliation:
National Research Council of Italy (CNR) - Institute of Marine Sciences, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy
Adam J. Dunford
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, Private Bag 14-901 Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand
Sophie Mormede
Affiliation:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited, Private Bag 14-901 Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand

Abstract

Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarctica Boulenger) are a keystone species in the Ross Sea. Silverfish eggs and larvae are abundant during spring amongst the sub-surface platelet ice in Terra Nova Bay. It is not known whether the eggs are spawned elsewhere and accumulate under the ice or whether there is mass migration of silverfish to coastal spawning sites in winter. To test the latter hypothesis, an upward-looking 67 kHz echo sounder was moored in Terra Nova Bay to observe potential silverfish migration. The echo sounder was deployed at 380 m in a seabed depth of 550 m and ran for 210 days from 15 May until 11 December 2015. Acoustic reflections consistent with silverfish were observed at depths of 230–380 m during 9–22 September. This timing is consistent with the presence of eggs typically observed in October. Adult silverfish were also detected with an echo sounder and camera deployed through the ice in McMurdo Sound on 10 November 2015. Juvenile silverfish, but not adults, were observed through the ice in Terra Nova Bay during 11–16 November 2017. This paper provides a proof of concept, showing that innovative use of acoustics may help fill important observation gaps in the life history of silverfish.

Type
Biological Sciences
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2018 

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

Azzali, M., Leonori, I., Biagiotti, I., De Felice, A., Angiolillo, M., Bottaro, M. & Vacchi, M. 2010. Target strength studies on Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) in the Ross Sea. CCAMLR Science, 17, 75104.Google Scholar
Buffoni, G., Cappelletti, A. & Picco, P. 2002. An investigation of thermohaline circulation in Terra Nova Bay polynya. Antarctic Science, 14, 8392.Google Scholar
Cisewski, B., Strass, V.H., Rhein, M. & Krägefsky, S. 2010. Seasonal variation of diel vertical migration of zooplankton from ADCP backscatter time series data in the Lazarev Sea, Antarctica. Deep Sea Research I, 57, 7894.Google Scholar
Demer, D.A., Berger, L., Bernasconi, M., Bethke, E., Boswell, K., Chu, D., Domokos, R., et al. 2015. Calibration of acoustic instruments. ICES Cooperative Research Report, No. 326, 133 pp.Google Scholar
De Robertis, A. & Higginbottom, I. 2007. A post-processing technique to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio and remove echo sounder background noise. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64, 12821291.Google Scholar
De Witt, H.H., Heemstra, P.C. & Gon, O. 1990. Nototheniidae. In Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C., eds. 1990 Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown, South Africa: JBL Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 279331.Google Scholar
Donnelly, J., Torres, J.J., Sutton, T.T. & Simoniello, C. 2004. Fishes of the eastern Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 27, 637650.Google Scholar
Doonan, I., Coombs, R. & McClatchie, S. 2003. The absorption of sound in seawater in relation to estimation of deep-water fish biomass. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 60, 10471055.Google Scholar
Eastman, J.T. 1985. Pleuragramma antarcticum (Pisces, Nototheniidae) as food for other fishes in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 4, 155160.Google Scholar
Faleyeva, T.I. & Gerasimchuk, V.V. 1990. Features of reproduction in the Antarctic sidestripe Pleuragramma antarcticum (Nototheniidae). Voprosy ikhtiologii, 30, 416424.Google Scholar
Fissel, D.B., Marko, J.R. & Melling, H. 2008. Advances in upward-looking sonar technology for studying the processes of change in Arctic Ocean ice climate. Journal of Operational Oceanography, 1, 918.Google Scholar
Fofonoff, P. & Millard, R. Jr 1983. Algorithms for computation of fundamental properties of seawater. UNESCO Technical Papers in Marine Science, 44, 53 pp.Google Scholar
Fuiman, L.A., Davis, R.W. & Williams, T.M. 2002. Behavior of midwater fishes under the Antarctic ice, observations by a predator. Marine Biology, 140, 815822.Google Scholar
Ghigliotti, L., Pisano, E., Carlig, E., Kim, J.H., Choi, T. & Vacchi, M. 2015. Towards an all year round monitoring the Antarctic silverfish nursery area in the Ross Sea. SC-CAMLR-WG-FSA-15/58. Hobart, TAS: CCAMLR.Google Scholar
Granata, A., Cubeta, A., Guglielmo, L., Sidoti, O., Greco, S., Vacchi, M. & La Mesa, M. 2002. Ichthyoplankton abundance and distribution in the Ross Sea during 1987–1996. Polar Biology, 25, 187202.Google Scholar
Guidetti, P., Ghigliotti, L. & Vacchi, M. 2015. Insights into spatial distribution patterns of early stages of the Antarctic silverfish, Pleuragramma antarctica, in the platelet ice of Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 38, 333342.Google Scholar
Haris, K., Kloser, R.J., Ryan, T.E. & Malan, J. 2018 . Deep-water calibration of echo sounders used for biomass surveys and species identification. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 75, 11171130.Google Scholar
Hubold, G. 1985. The early life-history of the high-Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum . In SIEGFRIED, W.R., Condy, P.R. & Laws, R.M., eds. Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Berlin: Springer, 445451.Google Scholar
Kellermann, A. 1986. Geographical distribution and abundance of post-larval and juvenile Pleuragramma antarcticum (Pisces, Notothenioidei) off the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biology, 6, 111119.Google Scholar
Kurtz, D.D. & Bromwich, D.H. 1983. Satellite observed behaviour of the Terra Nova Bay polynya. Journal of Geophysical Research, 88, 97179722.Google Scholar
Ladroit, Y. 2017. ESP3: an open-source software for fisheries acoustic data processing. https://bitbucket.org/echoanalysis/esp3 (accessed September 2018).Google Scholar
La Mesa, M. & Eastman, J.T. 2012. Antarctic silverfish: life strategies of a key species in the high-Antarctic ecosystem. Fish and Fisheries, 13, 241266.Google Scholar
La Mesa, M., Eastman, J.T. & Vacchi, M. 2004. The role of notothenioid fish in the food web of the Ross Sea shelf waters, a review. Polar Biology, 27, 321338.Google Scholar
Melling, H., Johnston, P.H. & Riedel, D.A. 1995. Measurements of the underside topography of sea ice by moored subsea sonar. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 12, 589602.Google Scholar
Mintenbeck, K. & Torres, J.T. 2017. Impact of climate change on the Antarctic silverfish and its consequences for the Antarctic ecosystem. In Vacchi, M, Pisano, E. & Ghigliotti, L., eds. The Antarctic silverfish: a keystone species in a changing ecosystem. Advances in polar ecology, vol. 3. Berlin: Springer, 253286.Google Scholar
O’Driscoll, R.L, Leonori, I., De Felice, A. & Macaulay, G.J. 2017. Acoustic method of monitoring Antarctic silverfish distribution and abundance. In Vacchi, M, Pisano, E. & Ghigliotti, L., eds. The Antarctic silverfish: a keystone species in a changing ecosystem. Advances in polar ecology, vol. 3. Berlin: Springer, 237252.Google Scholar
O’Driscoll, R.L., Macaulay, G.J., Gauthier, S., Pinkerston, M. & Hanchet, S. 2011. Distribution, abundance, and acoustic properties of Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) in the Ross Sea. Deep Sea Research II, 58, 181195.Google Scholar
Parker, S.J., Mormede, S., DeVries, A, Hanchet, S.M. & Eisert, R. 2016. Have toothfish returned to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica? Antarctic Science, 28, 2934.Google Scholar
Pinkerton, M.H., Bradford-Grieve, J.M. & Hanchet, S.M. 2010. A balanced model of the food web of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. CCAMLR Science, 17, 131.Google Scholar
Pinkerton, M.H., Forman, J. Bury, S.J., Brown, J., Horn, P. & O’Driscoll, R.L. 2013. Diet and trophic niche of Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarcticum in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Journal of Fish Biology, 82, 141164.Google Scholar
Robison, B.H. 2003. What drives the diel vertical migration of Antarctic midwater fish? Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 83, 639942.Google Scholar
SC-CAMLR 2017. Report of the 36th meeting of the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Hobart, TAS: CCAMLR, 125 pp.Google Scholar
Simmonds, E.J. & MacLennan, D.N. 2005. Fisheries acoustics theory and practice, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 437 pp.Google Scholar
Smith, W.O. Jr., Ainley, D.G. & Cattaneo-Vietti, R. 2007. Trophic interactions within the Ross Sea continental shelf ecosystem. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B362, 95111.Google Scholar
Smith, W.O. Jr., Ainley, D.G., Arrigo, K.R. & Dinniman, M.S. 2014. The oceanography and ecology of the Ross Sea. Annual Reviews in Marine Science, 6, 469487.Google Scholar
Sutton, C.P. & Horn, P. 2011. A preliminary assessment of age and growth of Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. CCAMLR Science, 18, 7586.Google Scholar
Trevorrow, M.V. 2005. The use of moored inverted echo sounders for monitoring meso-zooplankton and fish near the ocean surface. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 62, 10041018.Google Scholar
Vacchi, M., DeVries, A.L., Evans, C.W., Bottaro, M., Ghigliotti, L., Cutroneo, L. & Pisano, E. 2012a. A nursery area for the Antarctic silverfish Pluragramma antarcticum at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea): first estimate of distribution and abundance of eggs and larvae under the seasonal sea-ice. Polar Biology, 35, 15731585.Google Scholar
Vacchi, M., Koubbi, P., Ghigliotti, L. & Pisano, E. 2012b. Sea-Ice interactions with polar fish—focus on the Antarctic silverfish life history. In Verde C. & di Prisco G., eds. Adaptation and evolution in marine environments, vol 1: From pole to pole. Berlin: Springer, 5173.Google Scholar
Vacchi, M., La Mesa, M., Dalù, M. & Macdonald, J. 2004. Early life stages in the life cycle of Antarctic silverfish, Pleuragramma antarcticum in Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea. Antarctic Science, 16, 299305.Google Scholar
Vacchi, M, Pisano, E. & Ghigliotti, L. eds. 2017. The Antarctic Silverfish: a keystone species in a changing ecosystem. Advances in polar ecology, vol. 3. Berlin: Springer, 314 pp.Google Scholar
van Woert, M.L. 1999. Wintertime dynamics of the Terra Nova Bay polynya. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, 11697753.Google Scholar