Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T00:46:41.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some notes on the biology of the snake blenny, Lumpenus lampretaeformis on the west coast of Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

J. D. M. Gordon
Affiliation:
Dunstaffnage Marine Research Laboratory, Oban, Scotland
J. A. R. Duncan
Affiliation:
Dunstaffnage Marine Research Laboratory, Oban, Scotland

Extract

Large catches of the snake blenny, Lumpenus lampretaeformis, have been made in the inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. Analysis of these catches confirm the view that this species shows marked seasonal variations in abundance. The species lives for up to 9 years and has a rapid growth rate in the first 2 years. It feeds mainly on meiobenthic organisms, of which polychaetes, harpacticoid copepods, ostracods and nematodes are the most important. The reason for the seasonal variation in catch rate is discussed and it is speculated that it may result from the fossorial habit of the adults and the parental care of the eggs.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

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

REFERENCES

Bagenal, T. B., 1965. The Fauna of the Clyde Sea Area: Fishes. 38 pp. Millport: Scottish Marine Biological Association.Google Scholar
De Silva, S. S., 1973a. Abundance, structure, growth and origin of inshore clupeid populations of the west coast of Scotland. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 12, 119144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Silva, S. S., 1973b. Food and feeding habits of the herring Clupea harengus and the sprat C. sprattus in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. Marine Biology, 20, 282290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Silva, S. S., 1973c. Aspects of the reproductive biology of the sprat, Sprattus sprattus (L.) in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. Journal of Fish Biology, 5, 689705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulton, T. W., 1890. Notes and memoranda. 8th Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 1889, 351358.Google Scholar
Fulton, T. W., 1901. Ichthyological notes. 19th Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 1900, 282291.Google Scholar
Gibson, R. N., 1969. The biology and behaviour of littoral fish. Oceanography and Marine Biology, an Annual Review, 7, 367410.Google Scholar
Gordon, J. D. M., 1977 a. The fish populations in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. The biology of the Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii). Journal of Fish Biology, 10, 417430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, J. D. M., 1977b. The fish populations in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. The distribution, abundance and growth of the whiting (Merlangius merlangus L.). Journal of Fish Biology, 10, 587596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, J. D. M., 1977 c. The fish populations in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. The food and feeding of the whiting (Merlangius merlangus L.). Journal of Fish Biology, 11, 513529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otterstrøm, A., 1906. Eggs and young of fishes in Danish waters. Report of the Danish Biological Station to the Board of Agriculture, 13, 85 pp.Google Scholar
Quasim, S. Z., 1957. The biology of Blennius pholis L. (Teleostei). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 128, 161208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, F. S., 1976. The Eggs and Plankton Stages of British Marine Fishes. 524 pp. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Sim, G., 1887. Occurrence of Lumpenus lampretaeformis on the north coast of Scotland; with notes on its habits, foods and the ground it frequents. Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology), 20, 3848.Google Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1970. Improved methods of sampling post-larval young fish and macroplankton. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 50, 689712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyler, A. V., 1971. Periodic and resident components in communities of Atlantic fish. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 28, 935946.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, A., 1969. The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe. 613 pp. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Wheeler, A. & Edwards, E., 1971. The occurrence of the snake blenny, Lumpenus lampretaeformis, in the Irish Sea. Irish Naturalists' Journal, 17, 1416.Google Scholar