Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T05:56:53.496Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biological implications of low condition factor “axe handle” specimens of the Antarctic toothfish, Dissostichus mawsoni, from the Ross Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2008

J.M. Fenaughty ,
Joseph T. Eastman  and
Bruce D. Sidell
J.M. Fenaughty
Affiliation:
Silvifish Resources Ltd, PO Box 17-058, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand
Joseph T. Eastman*
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979, USA
Bruce D. Sidell
Affiliation:
School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, 5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5751, USA
*
*corresponding author:eastman@ohiou.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We evaluated the condition factor (K), an index of weight per unit length, in a sample of 49 761 longline-caught specimens of Antarctic toothfish, Dissostichus mawsoni, from the Ross Sea. Our sample consisted of specimens from northern (60–70°S) and southern (70–78°S) regions. Fifty percent of the northern sample and 4.9% of the southern sample were large individuals with a low condition factor (Kah ≤ 1.0182) and displaying an “axe handle (ah)” morphology with a notably thinner trunk. In the northern sample 55.4% of the males and 43.2% of the females were less than Kah. In the southern region 5.3% of the males and 4.5% of the females were less than Kah. The axe handle morphology is attributable to the metabolic loss of muscular and subcutaneous lipid stores, and probably proteins, from white muscle. Our discussion considers energy metabolism as related to migration, feeding and reproduction. We suggest that migration, a life history trait of the phyletically basal notothenioid clades Pseudaphritis and Eleginops, persists in D. mawsoni. The spawning migration from the southern shelf to ridges and seamounts in the north may reflect fidelity to historic spawning grounds. As evidenced by the axe handle specimens neutral buoyancy of large D. mawsoni may be ephemeral, fluctuating over the course of adult life.

Keywords

feedinglipid depositslipid metabolismmigrationNotothenioideistarvation
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 537 - 551
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, J.B., Shipp, S.S., Lowe, A.L., Wellner, J.S. & Mosola, A.B. 2002. The Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum and its subsequent retreat history: a review. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 49–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrigo, K.R., Worthen, D., Schnell, A. & Lizotte, M.P. 1998. Primary production in Southern Ocean waters. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 15 587–15 600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balushkin, A.V. 2000. Morphology, classification, and evolution of notothenioid fishes of the Southern Ocean (Notothenioidei, Perciformes). Journal of Ichthyology, 40, S74–S109.Google Scholar
Bolger, T. & Connolly, P.L. 1989. The selection of suitable indices for the measurement and analysis of fish condition. Journal of Fish Biology, 34, 171–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brickle, P., Arkhipkin, A.I. & Shcherbich, Z.N. 2005a. Age and growth in a temperate euryhaline notothenioid, Eleginops maclovinus from the Falkland Islands. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 85, 1217–1221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brickle, P., Laptikhovsky, V. & Arkhipkin, A. 2005b. Reproductive strategy of a primitive temperate notothenioid Eleginops maclovinus. Journal of Fish Biology, 66, 1044–1059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busacker, G.P., Adelman, I.R. & Goolish, E.M. 1990. Growth. In Schreck, C.B. & Moyle, P.B., eds. Methods for fish biology. Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, 363–387.Google Scholar
Chow, J.M. & Bart, P.J. 2003. West Antarctic Ice Sheet grounding events on the Ross Sea outer continental shelf during the middle Miocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 198, 169–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, A., Doherty, N., DeVries, A.L. & Eastman, J.T. 1984. Lipid content and composition of three species of Antarctic fish in relation to buoyancy. Polar Biology, 3, 77–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, H., Hall, B.L., Denton, G.H., Gades, A.M. & Waddington, E.D. 1999. Past and future grounding-line retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Science, 286, 280–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowey, C.B. & Sargent, J.R. 1979. Nutrition. In Hoar, W.S., Randall, D.J. & Brett, J.R., eds. Fish physiology, vol. VIII. New York: Academic Press, 1–69.Google Scholar
Crockett, E.L. & Sidell, B.D. 1993. Substrate selectivities differ for hepatic mitochondrial and peroxisomal ß-oxidation in an Antarctic fish, Notothenia gibberifrons. Biochemical Journal, 289, 427–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeVries, A.L. & Eastman, J.T. 1978. Lipid sacs as a buoyancy adaptation in an Antarctic fish. Nature, 271, 352–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeWitt, H.H., Heemstra, P.C. & Gon, O. 1990. Nototheniidae. In Gon, O. & Heemstra, P.C., eds. Fishes of the Southern Ocean. Grahamstown, SA: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 279–331.Google Scholar
Domeier, M.L. & Colin, P.L. 1997. Tropical reef fish spawning aggregations: defined and reviewed. Bulletin of Marine Science, 60, 698–726.Google Scholar
Drazen, J.C., Goffredi, S.K., Schlining, B. & Stakes, D.S. 2003. Aggregations of egg-brooding deep-sea fish and cephalopods on the Gorda Escarpment: a reproductive hot spot. Biological Bulletin, 205, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, A. & Hanchet, S.M. 2006. An updated descriptive analysis of the toothfish (Dissostichus spp.) tagging programme in Subareas 88.1 & 88.2 up to 2005–2006. SC-CCAMLR, WG-FSA-06/34.Google Scholar
Dunn, A., Gilbert, D.J. & Hanchet, S.M. 2005. A single-area stock assessment model of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) in the Ross Sea for the 2004–05 season. SC-CCAMLR, WG-FSA-05/33.Google Scholar
Eastman, J.T. 1985. The evolution of neutrally buoyant notothenioid fishes: their specializations and potential interactions in the Antarctic marine food web. In Siegfried, W.R., Condy, P.R. & Laws, R.M.eds. Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Berlin: Springer, 430–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. 1993. Antarctic fish biology: evolution in a unique environment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 322 pp.Google Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & Barry, J.P. 2002. Underwater video observation of the Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni (Perciformes: Nototheniidae) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 25, 391–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & DeVries, A.L. 1981. Buoyancy adaptations in a swim-bladderless Antarctic fish. Journal of Morphology, 167, 91–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & DeVries, A.L. 1982. Buoyancy studies of notothenioid fishes in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Copeia, 2, 385–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & DeVries, A.L. 1989. Ultrastructure of the lipid sac wall in the Antarctic notothenioid fish Pleuragramma antarcticum. Polar Biology, 9, 333–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & DeVries, A.L. 2000. Aspects of body size and gonadal histology in the Antarctic toothfish, Dissostichus mawsoni, from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 23, 189–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eastman, J.T. & Lannoo, M.J. 1995. Diversification of brain morphology in Antarctic notothenioid fishes: basic descriptions and ecological considerations. Journal of Morphology, 223, 47–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eastman, J.T. & Lannoo, M.J. 2003. Anatomy and histology of the brain and sense organs of the Antarctic plunderfish Dolloidraco longedorsalis (Perciformes: Notothenioidei: Artedidraconidae), with comments on the brain morphology of other artedidraconids and closely related harpagiferids. Journal of Morphology, 255, 358–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eastman, J.T. & Lannoo, M.J. 2008. Brain and sense organ anatomy and histology of the Falkland Islands mullet, Eleginops maclovinus (Eleginopidae), the sister group of the Antarctic notothenioid fishes (Perciformes: Notothenioidei). Journal of Morphology, 269, 84–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eastman, J.T. & Sidell, B.D. 2002. Measurements of buoyancy for some Antarctic notothenioid fishes from the South Shetland Islands. Polar Biology, 25, 753–760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everson, I. 1977. The living resources of the Southern Ocean. Rome: FAO, GLO/SO/77/1, 156 pp.Google Scholar
Everson, I., Kock, K.-H. & Parkes, G. 1996. Ovarian development associated with first maturity in three Antarctic channichthyid species. Journal of Fish Biology, 49, 1019–1026.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evseenko, S.A., Kock, K.-H. & Nevinsky, M.M. 1995. Early life history of the Patagonian toothfish, Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt, 1898 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science, 7, 221–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenaughty, J.M. 2006. Geographical differences in the condition, reproductive development, sex ratio and length distribution of Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) from the Ross Sea, Antarctica (CCAMLR Subarea 88.1). CCAMLR Science, 13, 27–45.Google Scholar
Fenaughty, J.M., Stevens, D.W. & Hanchet, S.M. 2003. Diet of the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) from the Ross Sea, Antarctica (Subarea 88.1). CCAMLR Science, 10, 113–123.Google Scholar
Fernández, D.A., Calvo, J. & Johnston, I.A. 1999. Characterisation of the swimming muscles of two Subantarctic notothenioids. Scientia Marina, 63 (Sup 1), 477–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freund, J.E. & Perles, B.M. 1987. A new look at quartiles of ungrouped data. The American Statistician, 41, 200–203.Google Scholar
Friedrich, C. & Hagen, W. 1994. Lipid contents of five species of notothenioid fish from high-Antarctic waters and ecological implications. Polar Biology, 14, 359–369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagen, W., Kattner, G. & Friedrich, C. 2000. The lipid compositions of high-Antarctic notothenioid fish species with different life strategies. Polar Biology, 23, 785–791.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanchet, S.M., Stevenson, M.L., Horn, P.L. & Blackwell, R.G. 2003. Characterisation of the exploratory fishery for toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni and D. eleginoides) in the Ross Sea, and approaches to the assessment of the stocks. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2003/43, 27 pp.Google Scholar
Hazel, J.R. & Sidell, B.D. 2004. The substrate specificity of hormone-sensitive lipase from adipose tissue of the Antarctic fish Trematomus newnesi. Journal of Experimental Biology, 207, 897–903.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huybrechts, P. 2002. Sea-level changes at the LGM from ice-dynamic reconstructions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets during glacial cycles. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 203–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jobling, M. 1994. Fish bioenergetics. London: Chapman and Hall, 309 pp.Google Scholar
Kiessling, A., Lindahl-Kiessling, K. & Kiessling, K.-H. 2004. Energy utilization and metabolism in spawning migrating Early Stuart sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka): the migratory paradox. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 61, 452–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kock, K.-H. 1992. Antarctic fish and fisheries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 359 pp.Google Scholar
Kock, K.-H. & Kellermann, A. 1991. Reproduction in Antarctic notothenioid fish. Antarctic Science, 3, 125–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, Y. & Dutil, J.-D. 2000. Energetic consequences of reproduction in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in relation to spawning level of somatic energy reserves. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 57, 815–825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laptikhovsky, V., Arkhipkin, A. & Brickle, P. 2006. Distribution and reproduction of the Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt around the Falkland Islands. Journal of Fish Biology, 68, 849–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, Y., Dobbs, G.H. & DeVries, A.L. 1974. Oxygen consumption and lipid content in red and white muscles of Antarctic fishes. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 189, 379–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Love, M. 1980. Chemical biology of fishes, vol. 2. London: Academic Press, 943 pp.Google Scholar
Lund, E.D. & Sidell, B.D. 1992. Neutral lipid compositions of Antarctic fish tissues may reflect use of fatty acyl substrates by catabolic systems. Marine Biology, 112, 377–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meek, J. & Nieuwenhuys, R. 1998. Holosteans and teleosts. In Nieuwenhuys, R., ten Donkelaar, H.J. & Nicholson, C., eds. The central nervous system of vertebrates, vol. 2. Berlin: Springer, 759–937.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, P.R., Nielsen, J.G. & Fossen, I. 2003. Patagonian toothfish found off Greenland. Nature, 421, 599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mommsen, T.P. 1998. Growth and metabolism. In Evans, D.H., ed. The physiology of fishes, 2nd ed.Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 65–97.Google Scholar
Mommsen, T.P., French, C.J. & Hochachka, P.W. 1980. Sites and patterns of protein and amino acid utilization during the spawning migration of salmon. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 58, 1785–1799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nachman, R.J. 1985. Unusual predominance of even-carbon hydrocarbons in an Antarctic food chain. Lipids, 20, 629–633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Navarro, I. & Gutierrez, J. 1995. Fasting and starvation. In Hochachka, P.W. & Mommsen, T.P., eds. Biochemistry and molecular biology of fishes, vol. 4. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 393–434.Google Scholar
Near, T.J. 2004. Estimating divergence times of notothenioid fishes using a fossil-calibrated molecular clock. Antarctic Science, 16, 37–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Near, T.J., Pesavento, J.J. & Cheng, C.-H.C. 2004. Phylogenetic investigations of Antarctic notothenioid fishes (Perciformes: Notothenioidei) using complete gene sequences of the mitochondrial encoded 16S rRNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 32, 881–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Near, T.J., Kendrick, B.J., Detrich, H.W. III & Jones, C.D. 2007. Confirmation of neutral buoyancy in Aethotaxis mitopteryx DeWitt (Notothenioidei: Nototheniidae). Polar Biology, 30, 443–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Near, T.J., Russo, S.E., Jones, C.D. & DeVries, A.L. 2003. Ontogenetic shift in buoyancy and habitat in the Antarctic toothfish, Dissostichus mawsoni (Perciformes: Nototheniidae). Polar Biology, 26, 124–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, A.W. 1996. Locomotory activity and behaviour of the Antarctic teleost Notothenia coriiceps. Marine Biology, 126, 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patchell, G.J. 2002. Information on the spawning season and gonadosomatic indices of Dissostichus mawsoni from Sub-area 88.1 in the 2001–2002 season. SC-CCAMLR, WG-FSA-02/31.Google Scholar
Pörtner, H.O. 2006. Climate-dependent evolution of Antarctic ectotherms: an integrative analysis. Deep-Sea Research II, 53, 1071–1104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanchez, S., Dettaï, A., Bonillo, C., Ozouf-Costaz, C., Detrich, H.W. III & Lecointre, G. 2007. Molecular and morphological phylogenies of the Antarctic teleostean family Nototheniidae, with emphasis on the Trematominae. Polar Biology, 30, 155–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidell, B.D. & Hazel, J.R. 2002. Triacylglycerol lipase activities in tissues of Antarctic fishes. Polar Biology, 25, 517–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidell, B.D., Crockett, E.L. & Driedzic, W.R. 1995. Antarctic fish tissues preferentially catabolize monoenoic fatty acids. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 271, 73–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smetacek, V. & Nicol, S. 2005. Polar ocean ecosystems in a changing world. Nature, 437, 362–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, P.J. & Gaffney, P.M. 2005. Low genetic diversity in the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) observed with mitochondrial and intron DNA markers. CCAMLR Science, 12, 43–51.Google Scholar
Smith, W.O. Jr, Ainley, D.G. & Cattaneo-Vietti, R. 2007. Trophic interactions within the Ross Sea continental shelf ecosystem. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B362, 95–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tocher, D.R. 2003. Metabolism and functions of lipids and fatty acids in teleost fish. Reviews in Fisheries Science, 11, 107–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weatherley, A.H. & Gill, H.S. 1987. The biology of fish growth. London: Academic Press, 443 pp.Google Scholar
Williams, R., Tuck, G.N., Constable, A.J. & Lamb, T. 2002. Movement, growth and available abundance to the fishery of Dissostichus eleginoides Smitt, 1898 at Heard Island, derived from tagging experiments. CCAMLR Science, 9, 33–48.Google Scholar
Wullimann, M.F. 1998. The central nervous system. In Evans, D.H., ed. The physiology of fishes, 2nd ed.Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 245–282.Google Scholar
Yukhov, V.L. 1970. New data on the distribution and biology of Dissostichus mawsoni Norm. in Antarctic high latitudes. Journal of Ichthyology, 10, 422–424.Google Scholar
Yukhov, V.L. 1971. The range of Dissostichus mawsoni Norman and some features of its biology. Journal of Ichthyology, 11, 8–18.Google Scholar
Yukhov, V.L. 1982. The Antarctic toothfish (Antarkticheskii klykach). Moscow: Nauka, 113 pp. [In Russian; four page conclusion translated by Office of Language Services, U.S. Department of State, 07/09/98.]Google Scholar
Zimmermann, C. & Hubold, G. 1998. Respiration and activity of Arctic and Antarctic fish with different modes of life: a multivariate analysis of experimental data. In di Prisco, G., Pisano, E. & Clarke, A., eds. Fishes of Antarctica: a biological overview. Milan: Springer Italia, 163–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar