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Distribution and routes of drift migrations in larvae of three species of flatfish Bothus (Bothidae) in open waters of the northern Atlantic

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Abstract

On the basis of large collections, comprehensive data on the distribution of larvae of three species of flatfishes of the genus Bothus (B. ocellatus, B. robinsi, and B. podas) in the northern Atlantic are provided, and the routes of their drift migrations are discussed. Special attention is focused on discussing problems of identification of larvae of the listed species and the specification of evidence on meristic characters of adult flatfishes of these species used for the diagnostics of their larvae. It is shown that larvae of two American species of Bothus carried out from the shelves to the system of western boundary currents are widely distributed in the northern Atlantic drifting in waters of the Northern Subtropical Gyre (NSG). Some of them reach the Azores, and some are drifted along the periphery of the circulation system of the NSG currents towards North America. Unlike larvae of American species, larvae of the eastern Atlantic B. podas perform no transatlantic drift migrations, and the area of their distribution is confined to the waters of the eastern Atlantic. Such differences in the extent of latitudinal passive migrations between B. podas and western Atlantic species are explained according to Torson (1965) by differences in temperature conditions during the drift of larvae of species under comparison that directly affect the decrease (during water temperature increase) or increase (at temperature decrease) of the pelagic phase in their development. The latitudinal drift of larval B. podas from West Africa westwards proceeds due to currents that gradually warm during their motion, which causes a decrease of the dates of their staying in the pelagial. The transatlantic drift of larval American Bothus spp. from North America eastwards is observed in gradually cooling currents, which leads to an increase in the duration and extent of their passive migrations.

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  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences (IORAS), Nakhimovskii pr. 36, Moscow, 117218, Russia

    S. A. Evseenko

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Correspondence to S. A. Evseenko.

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Original Russian Text © S.A. Evseenko, 2008, published in Voprosy Ikhtiologii, 2008, Vol. 48, No. 6, pp. 825–843.

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Evseenko, S.A. Distribution and routes of drift migrations in larvae of three species of flatfish Bothus (Bothidae) in open waters of the northern Atlantic. J. Ichthyol. 48, 792–809 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945208090105

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