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Distribution patterns of larval myctophid fishes in the transition region of the western North Pacific

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Abstract

We examined the species composition and horizontal distribution of myctophid fish larvae in the transition region of the western North Pacific during the early summer. In total, 4,760 myctophid larvae were collected at 44 stations; 18 species of myctophids from 15 genera were collected, and the 8 most abundant species accounted for >95% of larvae. The distribution patterns of these larvae were well defined by the hydrographic structures of the study area including the Oyashio and Kuroshio fronts, the Subarctic Boundary, and a warm core ring. The horizontal distribution patterns of the eight dominant species were categorized into three groups: northern transition water (Stenobrachius nannochir, Tarletonbeania taylori, and Lampanyctus jordani), southern transition water (Symbolophorus californiensis, Diaphus theta, and Nannobrachium regale), and Kuroshio (Myctophum asperum and Diaphus garmani). The Subarctic Boundary defined the distributions of the northern and southern transition-water groups. The importance of areas of western North Pacific transition water as spawning and nursery grounds for subarctic, transitional, and subtropical myctophid fishes was indicated by the relationship between the horizontal distribution patterns of larvae, juveniles, and adults and the physical oceanographic structures.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. V. Loeb of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories for her critical reading of the manuscript. Dr. Hsin-ming Yeh of Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, helped us with the cluster analysis. We thank Dr. H.G. Moser of Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA for the advice on myctophid taxonomy. We are grateful to the captains, officers and crew of the R.V. “Wakataka-Maru” for their assistance in the field. We are also grateful to Drs. A. Hayashi and M. Moku of Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo, and H. Watanabe of National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, for the valuable discussion during the course of this study.

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  1. C. Sassa

    Present address: Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, 1551-8 Taira-machi, Nagasaki 851-2213, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan

    C. Sassa & K. Kawaguchi

  2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-8648, Japan

    Y. Oozeki & H. Kubota

  3. Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, 3-27-5 Shinhama, Shiogama, Miyagi 985-0001, Japan

    H. Sugisaki

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  1. C. Sassa
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Correspondence to C. Sassa.

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Communicated by T. Ikeda, Hakodate

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Sassa, C., Kawaguchi, K., Oozeki, Y. et al. Distribution patterns of larval myctophid fishes in the transition region of the western North Pacific. Marine Biology 144, 417–428 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1214-5

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