Movements of black and white anglerfish ( Lophius budegassa and L. piscatorius) in the northeast Atlantic

Abstract

Within the frame of an international tagging program which has been carried out since 1995, movements of black and white anglerfish ( Lophius budegassa and L. piscatorius) in Southern European waters were studied. This is the first large-scale study on movements of tagged black anglerfish. A total of 877 black anglerfish (6–88 cm total length) and 1326 white anglerfish (15–137 cm total length) were tagged. Times at liberty ranged from 1 to 665 days, with recapture rates of 21 (2.4%) and 50 (3.8%), respectively. A description of our tagging procedures is presented, together with the influences of the gear used, fish length and area of tagging on recapture rates. The type of fishing gear was the main factor affecting recapture rates. Fish length was neither related to the displacement distance nor to the time at liberty while the displacement distance was related to the time at liberty. Recapture locations suggested that movements occurred both in- and offshore. The largest displacement recorded was 408 km of a black anglerfish from southern to northern Bay of Biscay. The movements of the anglerfish indicate a mixing between northern and southern populations which may have strong implications for the current geographical boundaries of the stocks from a management perspective. Here, movement of white anglerfish between the Le Danois Bank and the Cantabrian continental shelf is reported for the first time.