Abstract
The age and growth patterns of the mesopelagic fish Ceratoscopelus maderensis (family Myctophidae) of the western Mediterranean Sea were described throughout its entire life cycle (from larvae to adult stages) using the sagittae otoliths of 59 individuals collected in December 2009. Three characteristic zones were identified along the cross-section of the sagittae (larval, metamorphic and juvenile-adult zones). Assuming growth rings as daily increments, the age of the analysed individuals (from 3.5 to 64 mm standard length [SL]) would range from 7 to 332 days. The relationship between the number of increments and the fish SL was fitted to a von Bertalanffy growth model (SL=70.5899Å~(1–exp(–0.0501(t+2.6705))). The growth pattern of C. maderensis in the western Mediterranean Sea was similar to that reported for this species in the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Though from a body size of 40-45 mm SL, growth rates declined more slowly in individuals from the western Mediterranean Sea, growth differences between these individuals and those from the northeast Atlantic Ocean were not statistically significant. This study provides new insights into the age and growth patterns of one of the most abundant mesopelagic fish species in the Mediterranean Sea that have clear implications for the study and management of marine ecosystems.
Highlights
Ceratoscopelus maderensis (Lowe, 1839) is a lanternfish species (Myctophidae) that is generally found in mesopelagic waters at depths ranging from 200 to 1000 m between 50oN and 30°N in the North Atlantic Ocean (Hulley 1984) and throughout the Mediterranean Sea (Jonsson 1992, Cavallaro et al 2019)
Ceratoscopelus maderensis is one of the most abundant myctophid species in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (Goodyear et al 1972, Hulley 1981, Olivar et al 2012). This species occupies a key position in the food-web structure of the mesopelagic community feeding on zooplankton (Bernal et al 2015), which highlights its integral role in the functioning of oceanic ecosystems as an intermediate link between primary consumers and top predators (Gjøsaeter and Kawaguchi 1980, Sassa and Takahashi 2018, Anderson et al 2019)
The aims of the present study are i) to estimate the age and growth patterns of C. maderensis in the western Mediterranean Sea through the analysis of sagittae otoliths considering most of its entire lifecycle, and ii) to compare the growth patterns of this species in the western Mediterranean Sea with those reported by Linkowski et al (1993) for this species with individuals from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean
Summary
Ceratoscopelus maderensis (Lowe, 1839) is a lanternfish species (Myctophidae) that is generally found in mesopelagic waters at depths ranging from 200 to 1000 m between 50oN and 30°N in the North Atlantic Ocean (Hulley 1984) and throughout the Mediterranean Sea (Jonsson 1992, Cavallaro et al 2019). Ceratoscopelus maderensis is one of the most abundant myctophid species in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea (Goodyear et al 1972, Hulley 1981, Olivar et al 2012). As such, this species occupies a key position in the food-web structure of the mesopelagic community feeding on zooplankton (Bernal et al 2015), which highlights its integral role in the functioning of oceanic ecosystems as an intermediate link between primary consumers and top predators (Gjøsaeter and Kawaguchi 1980, Sassa and Takahashi 2018, Anderson et al 2019). Several studies have reported growth patterns in myctophid species (e.g. Gartner 1991a, Linkowski et al 1993, Sassa et al 2015), but despite their wide geographical distribution, there is still a lack of information on their growth rates and lifespan
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