Development and Seasonal Variations of the Larvae of Three Mesopelagic Fishes near Coral Reefs in the Red Sea
Author:
Abu El-Regal Mohamed Ahmed1ORCID, Ditty James G.2ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Marine Biology Department, Faculty of Marine Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia 2. American Southwest Ichthyological Researchers (ASIR), Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA
Abstract
This work aims to describe the larval stages and the seasonal variation in the abundance of three mesopelagic species whose larvae are surprisingly abundant near coral reef areas in the Red Sea. The larvae were collected monthly using a plankton net (500 µ) from three coastal coral reef areas surrounding Sharm El-Sheikh on the Egyptian Red Sea coast between January and December 2015. The identification of larvae was based on the morphological and meristic characteristics according to the available literature. The larvae of this species were divided into preflexion, flexion, and postflexion stages and they were also categorized according to their size into relevant size classes. Mesopelagic fishes were represented in the collection by four species belonging to four families: Vinciguerria mabahiss (Family: Phosichthyidae), Benthosema pterotum (Family: Myctophidae), Astronesthes martensii (Family: Stomiidae; subfamily: Astronesthinae), and Trichiurus sp. (Family: Trichiuridae). In general, a total of 3678 larvae were collected, of which 1191, constituting about 32% of the total fish larvae, belonged to mesopelagic species. The most abundant species was V. mabahiss, with 677 larvae that constituted 18% and 57% of the total larvae and mesopelagic fish larvae, respectively. The second most abundant species was B. pterotum, which was represented by 485 larvae (13% of the total larvae and 40% of the mesopelagic fish larvae). A. martensii was represented by the lowest number of larvae (29 larvae, 2%). Most larvae of the three species were small and in the preflexion stage, whereas larger larvae are absent. They are highly abundant in the cooler months of the year between November and April. The high number of preflexion larvae may indicate that the three mesopelagic species spawn in the colder times of the year.
Funder
Institutional Fund Projects Ministry of Education King Abdulaziz University, DSR, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Subject
Ecology,Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Reference40 articles.
1. Spatial distribution and abundance of mesopelagic fish biomass in the Mediterranean Sea;Piroddi;Front. Mar. Sci.,2020 2. Prášil, O., Kaiser, M.J., Attrill, M.J., Jennings, S., Thomas, D.N., Barnes, D.K.A., Brierley, A.S., Polunin, N.V.C., Raffaelli, D.G., and Williams, P.J.L.B. (2005). Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts, Oxford University Press. 3. Vertical distribution, diversity and assemblages of mesopelagic fishes in the western Mediterranean;Olivar;Deep Sea Res. Part I Oceanogr. Res. Pap.,2012 4. Mann, K. (1984). Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems: Theory and Practice, Springer. 5. Lantern fish (Benthosema pterotum) resources as a target for commercial exploitation in the Oman Sea;Valinassab;J. Appl. Ichthyol.,2007
|
|