Abstract
Fish skeletal remains recovered from two archaeological sites dated in the Middle Holocene of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) were analysed to describe habitat use patterns by hake in the past and predict changes in a warmer world. Mitochondrial DNA was successfully extracted and amplified from 42 out of 45 first vertebra from ancient hake and phylogenetic analysis assigned all haplotypes to Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi). According to osteometry, the Argentine hake recovered from the archaeological site were likely adults ranging 37.2–58.1 cm in standard length. C and N stable isotope analysis showed that currently Argentine hake use foraging grounds deeper than those of Patagonian blenny and pink cusk-eel. Argentine hake, however, had a much broader isotopic niche during the Middle Holocene, when a large part of the population foraged much shallower than contemporary pink cusk-eel. The overall evidence suggests the presence of large numbers of Argentine hake onshore Tierra del Fuego during the Middle Holocene, which allowed exploitation by hunter-gatherer-fisher groups devoid of fishing technology. Interestingly, average SST off Tierra del Fuego during the Middle Holocene was higher than currently (11 °C vs 7 °C) and matched SST in the current southernmost onshore spawning aggregations, at latitude 47 °S. This indicates that increasing SST resulting from global warming will likely result into an increased abundance of adult Argentine hake onshore Tierra del Fuego, as during the Middle Holocene. Furthermore, stable isotope ratios from mollusc shells confirmed a much higher marine primary productivity during the Middle Holocene off Tierra del Fuego.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to Matias Pardo from San Arawa fishing company for his help in obtaining modern Southern hake samples. We acknowledge Dr. Begoña López Arias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, for her assistance in designing and testing the genetic primers. We are very grateful to Pilar Rubio who helped us with isotopic analyses at Centres Científics i Tecnològics de la Universitat de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain). Two anonymous reviewers and the handling editor highly improved a previous version of the manuscript with their suggestions. The ancient genetic analysis was supported by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant number AH/N005015/1) and the Leverhulme Trust (through a Philip Leverhulme Prize to CS). This paper was also supported by the following projects: PIP CONICET 0409-13 and PICT 2012-1944 to MS. MB has participated in this work with the support of a doctoral fellowship funded by CONICET for the completion of a PhD in Biological Sciences at Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. All the biological samples included on this paper are obtained, transported and analysed following the legal terms and conditions of the Argentine Government (MTA 19/10/2017).
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MB, MA, IBG and LC conceived and designed the study. MS and FS conducted the field work. MB, EG, CS and LC conducted laboratory analysis and data analysis. MB and LC wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Other authors provided editorial advice and contributed to revisions.
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Bas, M., Salemme, M., Green, E.J. et al. Predicting habitat use by the Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi in a warmer world: inferences from the Middle Holocene. Oecologia 193, 461–474 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04667-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04667-z