Publication Date:
2023-06-21
Description:
During the RV Polarstern expedition to the southern Weddell Sea, in Feb 2021, a breeding colony of notothenioid
icefish (Neopagetopsis ionah, Nybelin 1947) of globally unprecedented extent has been discovered. The colony, at time
of survey, covered at least ~240 square kilometres of the eastern flank of the Filchner Trough and was comprised of fish
nests at a density of 0.26 nests per square metre, representing an estimated minimum total of ~60 million active nests,
and an associated fish biomass of 〉 60,000 tonnes. The majority of nests were each occupied by 1 adult fish guarding
1735 eggs (±433 SD). Bottom water temperatures adjacent to the nests were up to 2 °C warmer than the surrounding
bottom waters, indicating a spatial correlation between the modified Warm Deep Water (mWDW) upflow onto the
Weddell Shelf and active nesting.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
notRev
Format:
application/pdf
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