Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Energy Content of Antarctic Mesopelagic Fishes: Implications for the Marine Food Web

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

For a better understanding of the role of mesopelagic fish in the Southern Ocean food web, the energy and water content of Bathylagus antarcticus, Electrona antarctica and Gymnoscopelus braueri from the Lazarev Sea were investigated. Mean dry weight energy content of B. antarcticus (20.4 kJ g−1) was significantly lower than in E. antarctica and G. braueri (both 29.4 kJ g−1). In E. antarctica, an increase of dry weight energy density with age was evident from 26.9 kJ g−1 in juveniles of less than 1 year of age to 32.0 kJ g−1 in 3-year-old fish. Water content decreased with size in all three species. Abundant high-energy species such as E. antarctica are at a key position in the food web. Due to a marked influence of age on energy content, population structure can be an important variable in estimates of energy fluxes in the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainley DG, Fraser WR, Smith WOJ, Hopkins TL, Torres JJ (1991) The structure of upper level pelagic food webs in the Antarctic: effect of phytoplankton distribution. J Mar Syst 2:111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ainley DG, Ribic CA, Fraser WR (1992) Does prey preference affect habitat choice in Antarctic seabirds? Mar Ecol Prog Ser 90:207–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Ainley DG, Ribic CA, Fraser WR (1994) Ecological structure among migrant and resident seabirds of the Scotia–Weddell Confluence region. J Anim Ecol 63:247–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Anthony JA, Roby DD, Turco KR (2000) Lipid content and energy density of forage fishes from the northern Gulf of Alaska. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 248:53–78

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Arnould JPY, Whitehead MD (1991) The diet of Antarctic petrels, cape petrels and southern fulmars rearing chicks in Prydz Bay. Ant Sci 3:19–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrera-Oro E (2002) The role of fish in the Antarctic marine food web: differences between inshore and offshore waters in the southern Scotia Arc and west Antarctic Peninsula. Antarct Sci 14:293–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bost CA, Zorn T, LeMaho Y, Duhamel G (2002) Feeding of diving predators and diel vertical migration of prey: king penguins’ diet versus trawl sampling at Kerguelen Islands. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 227:51–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Casaux R, Baroni A, Ramon A (2003) Diet of Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at the Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 26:49–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casaux R, Bellizia L, Baroni A (2004) The diet of the Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella at Harmony Point, South Shetland Islands: evidence of opportunistic foraging on penguins? Polar Biol 27:59–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherel Y, Ridoux V (1992) Prey species and nutritive value of food fed during summer to king penguin Aptenodytes patagonica chicks at Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago. Ibis 134:118–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke A, Prince PA (1980) Chemical composition and calorific value of food fed to Mollymauk chicks Diomedea melanophris and Diomedea Chrysostoma at Bird-Island, South Georgia. Ibis 122:488–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Creet S, van Franeker JA, Van Spanje TM, Wolff WJ (1994) Diet of the Pintado Petrel Daption capense at King George Island, Antarctica, 1990/91. Mar Ornithol 22:221–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnelly J, Torres JJ, Hopkins TL, Lancraft TM (1990) Proximate composition of Antarctic mesopelagic fishes. Mar Biol 106:13–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eder EB, Lewis MN (2005) Proximate composition and energetic value of demersal and pelagic prey species from the SW Atlantic Ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 291:43–52

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Geiger SP, Donnelly J, Torres JJ (2000) Effect of the receding ice-edge on the condition of mid-water fishes in the northwestern Weddell Sea: results from biochemical assays with notes on diet. Mar Biol 137:1091–1104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gon O (1990) Bathylagidae. In: Gon O, Heemstra PC (eds) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, RSA, pp 107–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Greely T, Gartner JVJ, Torres JJ (1999) Age and growth of Electrona antarctica (Pisces: Myctophidae), the dominant mesopelagic fish of the Southern Ocean. Mar Biol 133:145–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann KJ, Brandt SB (1995) Estimating energy density of fish. Trans Am Fish Soc 124:347–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins TL, Ainley DG, Torres JJ, Lancraft TM (1993) Trophic structure in open waters of the marginal ice zone in the Scotia–Weddell confluence region during spring (1983). Polar Biol 13:389–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubold G (1985) The early life-history of the High-Antarctic silverfish, Pleuragramma antarcticum. In: Siegfried W, Condy P, Laws R (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, pp 445–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulley PA (1990) Myctophidae. In: Gon O, Heemstra P (eds) Fishes of the Southern Ocean. JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, Grahamstown, RSA, pp 146–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Kock KH (1992) Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 359

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancraft TM, Torres JJ, Hopkins TL (1989) Micronekton and macrozooplankton in the open waters near Antarctic ice edge zones (AMERIEZ 1983 and 1986). Polar Biol 9:225–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancraft TM, Hopkins TL, Torres JJ, Donnelly J (1991) Oceanic micronektonic/macrozooplanktonic community structure and feeding in ice covered Antarctic waters during the winter (AMERIEZ 1988). Polar Biol 11:157–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson JW, Magalhaes AM, Miller EH (1998) Important prey species of marine vertebrate predators in the northwest Atlantic: proximate composition and energy density. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 164:13–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Lea M, Cherel Y, Guinet C, Nichols P (2002a) Antarctic fur seals foraging in the polar frontal zone: inter-annual shifts in diet as shown from fecal and fatty acid analysis. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 245:281–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Lea MA, Nichols PD, Wilson G (2002b) Fatty acid composition of lipid-rich myctophids and mackerel icefish (Champsocephalus gunnari)—Southern Ocean food-web implications. Polar Biol 25:843–854

    Google Scholar 

  • Osman LP, Hucke-Gaete R, Moreno CA, Torres D (2004) Feeding ecology of Antarctic fur seals at Cape Shirreff, South Shetlands, Antarctica. Polar Biol 27:92–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pakhomov EA, Perissinotto R, McQuaid C (1996) Prey composition and daily rations of myctophid fishes in the Southern Ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 134:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul AJ, Paul JM, Smith RL (1998) Seasonal changes in whole-body energy content and estimated consumption rates of age 0 walleye pollock from Prince William Sound, Alaska. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 47:251–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen J, Hislop JRG (2001) Seasonal variations in the energy density of fishes in the North Sea. J Fish Biol 59:380–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phleger CF, Nichols PD, Virtue P (1997) The lipid, fatty acid and fatty alcohol composition of the myctophid fish Electrona antarctica: high levels of wax esters and food chain implications. Ant Sci 9:258–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusch C, Hulley PA, Kock KH (2004) Community structure and feeding ecology of mesopelagic fishes in the slope waters of King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Deep Sea Res I 51:1685–1708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quillfeldt P (2002) Seasonal and annual variation in the diet of breeding and non-breeding Wilson’s storm-petrels on King George Island, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biol 25:216–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt SB, Van Vleet ES (1986) Lipid-composition of 22 species of Antarctic midwater zooplankton and fish. Mar Biol 91:149–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Saadettin G, Dincer B, Alemdag N, Colak A, Turfekci M (1998) Proximate composition and selected mineral content of commercially important fish species from the Black Sea. J Sci Food Agric 78:337–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabourenkov E (1990) Mesopelagic fish of the Southern Ocean—summary results of recent Soviet studies. WG-FSA-90/23, CCAMLR, Hobart, pp 433–457

  • Siegel V, Loeb V, Bergström B, Schöling S, Haraldsson M, Kitchener J, Vortkamp M (2004) Demography of Antarctic krill in the Lazarev Sea (Subarea 48.6) and the Elephant Island area (Subarea 48.1) in 2004. WG-EMM-04/23, CCAMLR, Hobart, pp 1–22

  • Tierney M, Hindell M, Goldsworthy S (2002) Energy content of mesopelagic fish from Macquarie Island. Ant Sci 14:225–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres J, Somero G (1988) Vertical distribution and metabolism in Antarctic mesopelagic fishes. Comp Biochem Physiol 90B:521–528

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Torres J, Donnelly J, Hopkins T, Lancraft T, Aarset A, Ainley D (1994) Proximate composition and overwintering strategies of Antarctic micronektonic crustacea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 113:221–232

    Google Scholar 

  • van Franeker JA (2001) Mirrors in ice. PhD Thesis, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, p 274

  • van Franeker JA, Bathmann UV, Mathot S (1997) Carbon fluxes to Antarctic top predators. Deep Sea Res II 44:435–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to V. Siegel (Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, Hamburg) who kindly provided the sampling material for this study. We thank the crew of RV “Polarstern” and J. Buyse for their support. M. Leopold and J. Maes contributed to the improvement of this paper. This work was funded by the Belgian Science Policy (project PELAGANT EV/01/30B), the Dutch Ministry for Agriculture, Nature and Food quality (LNV) and the Dutch Polar Programme (NPP).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Catholic University Leuven, Ch. Deberiotstraat 32, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Anton Van de Putte & Filip Volckaert

  2. IMARES Texel, P.O. Box 167, 1790 AD, Den Burg, The Netherlands

    Hauke Flores & Jan Andries van Franeker

  3. Department of Marine Biology, Groningen University, P.O. Box 14, 9750 AA, Haren, The Netherlands

    Hauke Flores

Authors
  1. Anton Van de Putte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hauke Flores
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Filip Volckaert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jan Andries van Franeker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anton Van de Putte.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Van de Putte, A., Flores, H., Volckaert, F. et al. Energy Content of Antarctic Mesopelagic Fishes: Implications for the Marine Food Web. Polar Biol 29, 1045–1051 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0148-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0148-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation