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Diversified feeding strategies of Pleuragramma antarctica (Nototheniidae) in the Southern Ocean

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Abstract

The Antarctic silverfish Pleuragramma antarctica is a plankton feeder playing an important role at midtrophic level in High Antarctic ecosystems. Over years, a reasonable bulk of information has been collected on the trophic ecology of the species, nevertheless there are several aspects that still deserve full elucidation. Here, we explore the trophic plasticity of the Antarctic silverfish, its ability to change and optimize the diet according to the prey availability. A comparative analysis of stomach contents, fish condition, and feeding selectivity was performed on specimens from three different locations in the Southern Ocean: Ross Sea, Adélie Land, and Antarctic Peninsula. While confirming copepods and euphausiids as the most important items in the diet of the Antarctic silverfish, present study revealed significant local differences in diet composition and fish condition. The specimens from the Antarctic Peninsula showed the highest body condition and euphausiids were the preferential prey. Conversely, specimens from the Ross Sea and Adèlie Land, where euphausiids are not as abundant as in those of the Antarctic Peninsula waters, showed a flexible and opportunistic trophic habit strategy, profiting of being able to rely on the great variety of planktonic prey. Being P. antarctica a key component of the pelagic ecosystem, improved knowledge of the trophic ecology of this fish would contribute to a throughout understanding of its response to environmental change.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out within the project 2013/AZ1.18 RAISE (Integrate Research on Antarctic Silverfish Ecology in the Ross Sea), Italian National Programme for Antarctic Research (PNRA) and contributes to the SCAR Program AnT-ERA (Antarctic Thresholds - Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation). We are grateful to all who contributed to the sampling useful for our analyses, in particular, Richard O’Driscoll (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand), Magnus Lucassen (Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany), and Karl-Hermann Kock (Institute for Sea Fisheries, Johann Heinrich von Thüne Institute, Hamburg, Germany) who invited MV to participate in the Polarstern XVIII/4. We thank Marina Giallain (Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genoa) for her precious contribution in the stomach contents analysis. We thank also Katja Mintenbeck and two anonymous referees, whose comments greatly improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council (CNR) of Italy, Institute for the Study of the Anthropic Impacts and the Sustainability of the Marine Environment (IAS), Via De Marini 6, 16149, Genoa, Italy

    Erica Carlig, Davide Di Blasi, Laura Ghigliotti, Eva Pisano & Marino Vacchi

  2. Unité Biologie Des Organismes Et écosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA, UMR 7208), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle, Université Pierre Et Marie Curie, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, CNRS, IRD; CP26, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    Philippe Koubbi

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  1. Erica Carlig
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  2. Davide Di Blasi
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  5. Philippe Koubbi
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Correspondence to Erica Carlig.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding this study.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed and all necessary approvals have been obtained. The sampling was conducted in compliance with the “Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty,” Annex II, Art. 3, to provide specimens for scientific activity, referring to the PNRA Research Project.

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Carlig, E., Di Blasi, D., Ghigliotti, L. et al. Diversified feeding strategies of Pleuragramma antarctica (Nototheniidae) in the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol 42, 2045–2054 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02579-0

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