Evidence for seasonal cycles in deep-sea fish abundances: A great migration in the deep SE Atlantic?

Milligan, Rosanna J.; Scott, E. Marian; Jones, Daniel O. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5218-1649; Bett, Brian J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4977-9361; Jamieson, Alan J.; O’Brien, Robert; Pereira Costa, Sofia; Rowe, Gilbert T.; Ruhl, Henry; Smith, Ken L.; de Susanne, Philippe; Vardaro, Michael F.; Bailey, David M.; Chapman, Jason. 2020 Evidence for seasonal cycles in deep-sea fish abundances: A great migration in the deep SE Atlantic? Journal of Animal Ecology, 89 (7). 1593-1603. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13215

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Abstract/Summary

Animal migrations are of global ecological significance, providing mechanisms for the transport of nutrients and energy between distant locations. In much of the deep sea (>200 m water depth), the export of nutrients from the surface ocean provides a crucial but seasonally variable energy source to seafloor ecosystems. Seasonal faunal migrations have been hypothesized to occur on the deep seafloor as a result, but have not been documented. Here, we analyse a 7.5‐year record of photographic data from the Deep‐ocean Environmental Long‐term Observatory Systems seafloor observatories to determine whether there was evidence of seasonal (intra‐annual) migratory behaviours in a deep‐sea fish assemblage on the West African margin and, if so, identify potential cues for the behaviour. Our findings demonstrate a correlation between intra‐annual changes in demersal fish abundance at 1,400 m depth and satellite‐derived estimates of primary production off the coast of Angola. Highest fish abundances were observed in late November with a smaller peak in June, occurring approximately 4 months after corresponding peaks in primary production. Observed changes in fish abundance occurred too rapidly to be explained by recruitment or mortality, and must therefore have a behavioural driver. Given the recurrent patterns observed, and the established importance of bottom‐up trophic structuring in deep‐sea ecosystems, we hypothesize that a large fraction of the fish assemblage may conduct seasonal migrations in this region, and propose seasonal variability in surface ocean primary production as a plausible cause. Such trophic control could lead to changes in the abundance of fishes across the seafloor by affecting secondary production of prey species and/or carrion availability for example. In summary, we present the first evidence for seasonally recurring patterns in deep‐sea demersal fish abundances over a 7‐year period, and demonstrate a previously unobserved level of dynamism in the deep sea, potentially mirroring the great migrations so well characterized in terrestrial systems.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13215
ISSN:	00218790
Date made live:	04 May 2020 13:44 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/527633

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