Abstract
The Antarctic dragonfish Gerlachea australis is one of the most common bathydraconid species within the fish community of the Filchner Depression in the Weddell Sea. Nevertheless, several biological aspects of this species remain poorly known. The aim of this study was to provide new data on its population structure in terms of size, sex and age through sagittal otolith readings, as well as some reproductive traits based on macroscopic and histological analyses of gonads. The sex ratio in the sampled population was 1:1, with males being significantly smaller than females. Both sexes attained maximum age estimates of 14 years. Based on a von Bertalanffy growth model, females showed a higher asymptotic length than males at a comparable growth rate, thus reaching a higher growth performance. The spawning season was spread over a relatively long period, lasting at least from late December through late February. The reproductive effort in terms of fecundity and egg size diameter was similar to that of other bathydraconids, ranging from 739 to 1260 eggs/female and 3.2 mm after hydration, respectively. The fish size at first spawning (TL50) was 18.5 and 22.5 cm in males and females, corresponding to 80% of their maximum size. G. australis exhibited a combination of life history traits found in other high-Antarctic notothenioids, such as long gametogenesis, large eggs associated with low fecundity, relatively rapid body growth until reaching a delayed sexual maturity, moderate longevity and maximum size, and overall low growth performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Artigues B, Morales-Nin B, Balguerias E (2003) Fish length-weight relationships in the Weddell Sea and Bransfield Strait. Polar Biol 26:463–467
Balushkin AV, Voskoboynikova OS (1995) Systematics and phylogeny of antarctic dragonfishes (Bathydraconidae, Notothenioidei, Perciformes). J Ichthyol 35:89–104
Beamish RJ, Fournier DA (1981) A method of comparing the precision of a set of age determinations. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:982–983
Brown-Peterson NJ, Wyanski DM, Saborido-Rey F, Macewicz BJ, Lowerre-Barbieri SK (2011) A standardized terminology for describing reproductive development in fishes. Mar Coast Fish 3:52–70
Campana SE (2001) Accuracy, precision and quality control in age determination, including a review of the use and abuse of age validation methods. J Fish Biol 59:197–242
Chang WYB (1982) A statistical method for evaluating the reproducibility of age determination. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 39:1208–1210
Duhamel G, Kock K-H, Balguerias E, Hureau J-C (1993) Reproduction in fish of the Weddell Sea. Polar Biol 13:193–200
Eastman JT (1993) Antarctic fish biology: evolution in a unique environment. Academic Press, San Diego
Eastman JT, Eakin RR (2000) An updated species list for notothenioid fish (Perciformes; Notothenioidei), with comments on Antarctic species. Arch Fish Mar Res 48:11–20
Ekau W (1990) Demersal fish fauna of the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Antarct Sci 2:129–137
Ekau W, Gutt J (1991) Notothenioid fishes from the Weddell Sea and their habitat, observed by underwater photography and television. Proc NIPR Symp Polar Biol 4:36–49
Gon O (1990) Bathydraconidae. In: Gon O, Heemstra PC (eds) Fishes of the southern ocean. J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, pp 364–380
Grier HJ, Linton JR, Leatherland JF, De Vlaming VL (1980) Structural evidence for two different testicular types in teleost fishes. Am J Anat 159:331–345
Hammer Ø, Harper DAT, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: Paleontological Statistics Software Package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electron 4:1–9
Hubold G (1990) Seasonal patterns of ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance in the southern Weddell Sea. In: Kerry KR, Hempel G (eds) Antarctic ecosystems. Ecological change and conservation. Springer, Berlin, pp 149–158
Hubold G, Ekau W (1990) Feeding patterns of post-larval and juvenile notothenioids in the southern Weddell Sea (Antarctica). Polar Biol 10:255–260
Kellermann A (1990) Catalogue of early life stages of Antarctic notothenioid fish. Ber Polarforsch 67:45–136
Khun KL, Near TJ, Detrich HW III, Eastman JT (2011) Biology of the Antarctic dragonfish Vomeridens infuscipinnis (Notothenioidei: Bathydraconidae). Antarct Sci 23:18–26
Kimura DK (1980) Likelihood methods for the von Bertalanffy growth curve. Fish Bull 77:765–776
Knust R, Schröder M (2014) The expedition PS82 of the research vessel Polarstern to the southern Weddell Sea in 2013/2014. Ber Polar- Meeresforsch 680:1–155
Kock K-H (1989) Reproduction in fish around Elephant Island. Arch FischWiss 39:171–210
Kock K-H (1992) Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kock K-H, Kellermann A (1991) Reproduction in Antarctic notothenioid fish. Antarct Sci 3:125–150
Kock K-H, Schneppenheim R, Siegel V (1984) A contribution to the fish fauna of the Weddell Sea. Arch FishWiss 34:103–120
La Mesa M, Vacchi M (2001) Review:age and growth of high Antarctic notothenioid fish. Antarctic Sci 13:227–235
La Mesa M, Catalano B, Kock K-H, Jones CD (2012) Age and growth of the Antarctic dragonfish Parachaenichthys charcoti (Pisces, Bathydraconidae) from the southern Scotia Arc. Polar Biol 35:1545–1553
Murua H, Kraus G, Saborido-Rey F, Witthames PR, Thorsen A, Junquera S (2003) Procedures to estimate fecundity of marine fish species in relation to their reproductive strategy. J Northwest Atl Fish Sci 33:33–54
Pauly D, Munro JL (1984) Once more on the comparison of growth in fish and invertebrates. Fishbyte 2:21
Pearse AGE (1985) Histochemistry. Theoretical and applied analytical technology. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh
Schröder M (2016) The expedition PS96 of the research vessel Polarstern to the southern Weddell Sea in 2015/2016. Ber Polar- Meeresforsch 700:1–142
Schwarzbach W (1988) The demersal fish fauna of the eastern and southern Weddell Sea: geographical distribution, feeding of fishes and their trophic position in the food web. Ber Polarforsch 54:1–93
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry. The principle and practice of statistics in biological research. Freeman, San Francisco
Van der Molen S, Matallanas J (2003) Oocyte development and maturity classification of Gerlachea australis from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biol 26:653–658
Wallace RA, Selman K (1981) Cellular and dynamic aspects of oocyte growth in teleosts. Am Zool 21:325–343
White MG (1991) Age determination in Antarctic fish. In: Di Prisco G, Maresca B, Tota B (eds) Biology of Antarctic fish. Springer, Berlin, pp 87–100
Witthames PR, Thorsen A, Murua H, Saborido-Rey F, Greenwood LN, Dominguez R, Korta M, Kjesbu OS (2009) Advances in methods for determining fecundity: application of the new methods to some marine fishes. Fish Bull 107:148–164
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank all of the crew members and personnel aboard the R/V Polarstern on the PS 82 and PS 96 cruises, for their valuable support during field samplings activities and special thanks to all the fish teams involved in fish sorting aboard the vessel. We are particularly grateful to Christopher D. Jones for editing the early draft of the manuscript, as well as three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. This work was financially supported by the Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide (PNRA).
Funding
Funding was provided by Progetto di Ricerca 2013/C1.07.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
La Mesa, M., Calì, F., Donato, F. et al. Aspects of the biology of the Antarctic dragonfish Gerlachea australis (Notothenioidei: Bathydraconidae) in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biol 41, 793–803 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2240-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2240-y