Light comfort zone in a mesopelagic fish emerges from adaptive behaviour along a latitudinal gradient

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 623:161-174 (2019) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13024 Light comfort zone in a mesopelagic fish emerges from adaptive behaviour along a latitudinal gradient Tom J. Langbehn1,*, Dag L. Aksnes1, Stein Kaartvedt2, Øyvind Fiksen1, Christian Jørgensen1 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen 5020, Norway 2Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway *Corresponding author: tom.langbehn@uib.no ABSTRACT: Throughout the oceans, small fish and other micronekton migrate between daytime depths of several hundred meters and near-surface waters at night. These diel vertical migrations of mesopelagic organisms structure pelagic ecosystems through trophic interactions, and are a key element in the biological carbon pump. However, depth distributions and migration amplitude vary greatly. Suggested proximate causes of the migration such as oxygen, temperature, and light often correlate and therefore the causal underpinnings have remained unclear. Using mesopelagic fishes and the Norwegian Sea as a study system, we developed a dynamic state variable model that finds optimal migration patterns that we validate with acoustic observations along a latitudinal gradient. The model describes predation risk and bioenergetics, and maximizes expected energy surplus, a proxy for Darwinian fitness. The model allows us to disentangle the drivers of migration and make predictions about depth distribution and related fitness consequences along a latitudinal trajectory with strong gradients in environmental drivers and vertical distribution of scattering layers. We show that the model-predicted vertical migration of mesopelagic fishes matches that observed along this transect. For most situations, modelled mesopelagic fish behaviour can be well described by a light comfort zone near identical to that derived from observations. By selectively keeping light or temperature constant, the model reveals that temperature, in comparison with light, has little effect on depth distribution. We find that water clarity, which limits how deeply light can penetrate into the ocean, structures daytime depths, while surface light at night controlled the depth of nocturnal ascents. KEY WORDS: Antipredation window · Deep scattering layer · Photoperiodic constraint hypothesis · High-latitude · Myctophidae · Twilight zone · Norwegian Sea · Benthosema glaciale Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Langbehn TJ, Aksnes DL, Kaartvedt S, Fiksen Ø, Jørgensen C (2019) Light comfort zone in a mesopelagic fish emerges from adaptive behaviour along a latitudinal gradient. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 623:161-174. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13024 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 623. Online publication date: July 30, 2019 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2019 Inter-Research.