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Production/Biomass Ratios, Size Frequencies and Biomass Spectra in Deep-Sea Demersal Fishes

  • Chapter
Deep-Sea Food Chains and the Global Carbon Cycle

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 360))

Abstract

Research over the past decade has continued to advance knowledge of deep-sea fishes and their role in deep ocean food webs. Comprehensive studies on a local scale have called a number of generalities into question. The fauna is not yet fully described, distribution patterns are not clear, and estimates of biomass and abundance are especially sensitive to the sampling gear used. Production estimates are very difficult, but holistic approaches based on size show promise. The sizes attained by component species tell much about the way communities and ecosystems are structured and function, and size can be related to foraging mode and strategy. Data on deep demersal fishes from the Porcupine Seabight and Madeira Abyssal Plain in the eastern North Atlantic (200-5400 m depth) illustrate and investigate these points. Banse and Mosher’s (1980) allometric equation for productionlbiomass ratios in fishes gives values similar to those derived previously by other means. Patterns in the frequency distribution of sizes attained by individual species at various depths can be related to probable feeding modes, and these are supported by information on diets. The biomass spectrum for the continental slope is flat suggesting that there is a relatively uniform supply of food there throughout the year. The spiky pattern in the biomass spectrum for the continental rise and abyss suggests that the dominant food sources for fishes there are pulsed, probably in the form of infrequent, random and rapid falls of material from the surface layers.

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  1. Ocean Sciences Center, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, A1B 3X7

    Richard L. Haedrich

  2. Zoology Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK, SW7 5BD

    Nigel R. Merrett

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  1. Oceanography Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA, TX

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Haedrich, R.L., Merrett, N.R. (1992). Production/Biomass Ratios, Size Frequencies and Biomass Spectra in Deep-Sea Demersal Fishes. In: Rowe, G.T., Pariente, V. (eds) Deep-Sea Food Chains and the Global Carbon Cycle. NATO ASI Series, vol 360. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2452-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2452-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5082-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2452-2

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