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Interannual variability in the feeding of ice fish (Notothenioidei, Channichthyidae) in the southern Scotia Arc and the Antarctic Peninsula region (CCAMLR Subareas 48.1 and 48.2)

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Abstract

We have studied the annual variation in food intake of three sub-Antarctic ice fish species (Champsocephalus gunnari, Chaenocephalus aceratus, and Pseudochaenichthys georgianus) and three high-Antarctic ice fish species (Chionodraco rastrospinosus, Cryodraco antarcticus, and Chaenodraco wilsoni). Stomach content analyses were conducted during bottom trawl surveys around the South Shetland Islands in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2007, the South Orkney Islands in 1999 and 2009, and off the north-western Antarctic Peninsula in 2002, 2006, and 2006/2007 in order to obtain further insight into the amount of food of Antarctic demersal fish consume during summer. Annual variation in food intake was comparatively low within an area in the krill-feeding species C. gunnari and C. wilsoni. Food intake was much more variable, by a factor of 2 or 3 among years and areas, in larger C. aceratus and C. antarcticus, which rely heavily on fish as their dietary source. Food consumption was intermediate in the two species P. georgianus and C. rastrospinosus, which rely on both krill and fish.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to a large number of scientists onboard R/V ‘Yuzhmorgeologiya’ and R/V ‘Polarstern’ for their never-ending support during the cruises. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the masters and crews of the two vessels when collecting the field data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Seefischerei, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei, Palmaille 9, 22767, Hamburg, Germany

    Karl-Hermann Kock & Joachim Gröger

  2. Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universität Rostock, Universitätsplatz 2, 18055, Rostock, Germany

    Joachim Gröger

  3. Antarctic Ecosystem Research Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, 3333 N. Torrey Pines Court, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Christopher D. Jones

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  1. Karl-Hermann Kock
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  2. Joachim Gröger
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  3. Christopher D. Jones
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Correspondence to Karl-Hermann Kock.

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CCAMLR: Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

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Kock, KH., Gröger, J. & Jones, C.D. Interannual variability in the feeding of ice fish (Notothenioidei, Channichthyidae) in the southern Scotia Arc and the Antarctic Peninsula region (CCAMLR Subareas 48.1 and 48.2). Polar Biol 36, 1451–1462 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1363-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1363-z

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