Abstract
Halosauropsis macrochir ranked amongst the most abundant and widespread demersal fishes on the mid-Atlantic Ridge of the North Atlantic (Iceland-Azores) with greatest abundance at 1700–3500 m. All sizes, ranging from 10–76 cm total length, occurred in the area without any apparent spatial pattern or depth trend. Using otolith sections displaying growth increments assumed to represent annuli, the age range recorded was 2–36 years, but most individuals were <20 years. Length and weight at age data were used to fit growth models. No differences between sexes in length and weight at age were observed. The majority of samples had a surplus of males. Diet analysis showed that H. macrochir feeds on Crustacea, Teleostei, Polychaeta, and Cephalopoda, but few prey could be identified to lower taxonomical levels. The mid-Atlantic Ridge constitutes a major portion of the North Atlantic living space of the abyssal halosaur where it completes its full life cycle, primarily as an actively foraging euryophagous micronekton/epibenthos and infauna feeder, becoming a partial piscivore with increasing size.
Highlights
Atlantic [1], including analyses of life history diversity and autecology of selected species
We enhance the knowledge of distribution, age, growth, and feeding ecology of H. macrochir from its major mid-ocean habitat in the North Atlantic
At the mid-Atlantic Ridge locations shown in Fig. 1, spanning the depth range 800–3532 m, bottom trawling was carried out as elements of the July 2004 MAR-ECO expedition on the RV
Summary
Atlantic [1], including analyses of life history diversity and autecology of selected species. The species belongs to the spiny eel family Halosauridae of the order Notacanthiformes. It has a tapered caudal region and grows to about 90 cm in length Information on its life history characteristics is very sparse but scattered data on trophic ecology suggests a benthic lifestyle with gut contents comprising infaunal and epifaunal organisms such as crustaceans, polychaetes, echinoderms, and small fish, as well as detritus and sediments [4,8]. We enhance the knowledge of distribution, age, growth, and feeding ecology of H. macrochir from its major mid-ocean habitat in the North Atlantic. A prerequisite for some of the studies was PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org
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