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Assemblage characteristics and diet of fish in the shallow coastal waters of James Ross Island, Antarctica

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Abstract

This study presents data on fish assemblage structure for the relatively pristine and understudied Antarctic coastal zone (5–25 m). A total of 545 Notothenioidei and Bathydraconidae fish (eight species) were caught in the Prince Gustav Channel (James Ross Island, eastern Antarctic Peninsula) using Nordic multi-mesh benthic gill nets between January and February 2014. Trematomus hansoni dominated at 5 m and Trematomus bernacchii at 15 m, with Gobionotothen gibberifrons and Trematomus newnesi subdominant. Dominance at 25 m resembled that at 15 m. Despite relatively low numbers, species richness, abundance and biomass appeared to increase with depth. While T. bernacchii, T. hansoni, G. gibberifrons and Notothenia coriiceps all displayed multiple size (and probably age) groups, most T. newnesi ranged between 10 and 15 cm. Subsamples of G. gibberifrons and T. bernacchii showed a 1:1 adult/immature ratio, with minimum adult and maximum immature length/weight overlapping. Females outnumbered males, with a ratio of 2.8:1 for G. gibberifrons and 4.8:1 for T. bernacchii. The diet comprised mostly benthic taxa (isopods, gammarids, gastropods, polychaete worms). While G. gibberifrons appeared opportunistic, T. bernacchii specialised more on isopods. Our results highlight the possible importance of the Antarctic inshore zone as feeding habitat, despite frequent ice cover/scouring. We suggest that recent prolonged summer ice cover over the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula could have important impacts on inshore fish communities and food webs, though further in-depth studies are needed to confirm our results.

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Notes

  1. Also previously known as N. coriiceps neglecta Nybelin 1951 (Miller 1993). Note, however, that neither FishBase (Froese and Pauly 2012) nor Gon and Heemstra (1990) recognises neglecta as a separate species or subspecies as identification was based on just two type samples and the species shows great variation. Hence, the most common name in use today is the bullhead notothen (or black rockcod) N. (Notothenia) coriiceps Richardson, 1844.

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Acknowledgments

This study was made possible thanks to financial support from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (ECIP Project No. P505/12/G112). We would like to express our thanks for permission to use the J.G. Mendel Czech Antarctic Station on James Ross Island in 2014 and to all our expedition colleagues for technical help while stationed there. We would also like to thank A. Bryjová and J. Bryja of the Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, for their help in analysing the DNA samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic

    P. Jurajda, K. Roche & L. Všetičková

  2. Czech Collection of Microorganisms, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    I. Sedláček

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  1. P. Jurajda
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  2. K. Roche
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  4. L. Všetičková
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Correspondence to K. Roche.

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Jurajda, P., Roche, K., Sedláček, I. et al. Assemblage characteristics and diet of fish in the shallow coastal waters of James Ross Island, Antarctica. Polar Biol 39, 2299–2309 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1896-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-1896-z

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