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Overview of the Composition and Spatial Distribtion of the Communities of Deep-Water Pelagic Fish in the Tropical Waters of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Russian Exploration Area

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Abstract

The spatial and vertical distribution of larvae, juveniles, and adults of meso- and bathypelagic fish during the dark period of the day was analyzed at three areas in the tropical part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, located north and south of the Cape Verde Fault in the zone of the Russian exploration area. The material was collected at four standard layers of 250–0, 700–0, 1500–0, and 2500–0 m. In the study area, 127 species of juveniles and adult fish, belonging to 29 families, and 81 species of larvae, representing 32 families, were recorded. Species abundance and total abundance of deep-sea fish communities at different areas did not differ statistically, regardless of the trawling layer. In the night, the species diversity and average abundance of the fishes gradually increased ( from 25.9 to 531.6 sp./100 m2) with an increase of fishing depth from the surface up to a zone of 1500 m. The maximum fish abundance was observed nearby the summits and slopes of seamounts at a depth range of 700–1500 m. No signs of nighttime peaks in the abundance of deep-sea fish in the 250–0 m layer in the tropical part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were found. With increasing of the depth of fishing, the number of warm-water species of lanternfishes (Myctophidae), belonging to tropical and equatorial habitats, decreases, whereas the number of species with bicentral and central-peripheral ranges on the contrary increases. At greater depths there are also appear the subtropical species, preferring less warm water masses, and the species, inhabiting the continental slope and seamounts.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their sincere gratitude to A.M. Prokof’ev (IO RAS) for processing the collection and species identification of Stomiidae and Ceratioidei.

Funding

The work was carried out within the theme of State Assignment no. 0149-2019-0009, the processing of the collected materials was performed with partial financial support from the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 19-14-00026. This article was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 19-14-50513, code “Expansion”.

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  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    S. G. Kobyliansky, A. V. Mishin, Ya. Yu. Bolshakova & A. N. Kotlyar

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  1. S. G. Kobyliansky
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Kobyliansky, S.G., Mishin, A.V., Bolshakova, Y.Y. et al. Overview of the Composition and Spatial Distribtion of the Communities of Deep-Water Pelagic Fish in the Tropical Waters of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Russian Exploration Area. J. Ichthyol. 61, 361–385 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945221030048

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