Effect of the receding ice-edge on the condition of mid-water fishes in the northwestern Weddell Sea: results from biochemical assays with notes on diet

• Published in: Marine biology Vol. 137; no. 5-6; pp. 1091 - 1104
• Main Authors: Geiger, S. P., Torres, J. J., Donnelly, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer 12.12.2000; Berlin Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Bathylagus antarcticus; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Comparative studies; Diet; Ecosystems; Electrona antarctica; Fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Ice; Marine; Marine biology; Marine ecosystems; Spring; Vertebrata; Weddell Sea; Antarctica; Weddell Sea; Southern Ocean; PSW, Weddell Sea; Physiological condition; Interspecific comparison; Variability; Environmental factor; Marine environment; Vertebrata; Diet; Trophic level; Pisces; Bloom; Dominant species; Chemical composition; Nutritional status; Sea ice
• ISSN: 0025-3162; 1432-1793
• DOI: 10.1007/s002270000428

Electrona antarctica and Bathylagus antarcticus are dominant fishes in the Southern Ocean pelagic ecosystem with disparate life histories, making them excellent subjects for comparative studies. Twenty-one indices of nutritional condition were compared in both species by observing changes in each index as it varied spatially and temporally in association with the marginal ice-zone bloom in the northwestern Weddell Sea. E. antarctica and B. antarcticus exhibited very different patterns of response to the bloom.