Early stages of notothenioid fishes from Potter Cove, South Shetland Islands

BARRERA-ORO, ESTEBAN; MOREIRA, EUGENIA; PIACENTINO, GABRIELA; NOVILLO, MANUEL

Davos

Congreso; POLAR2018 Open Science Conference; 2018

Scientific Comitte of Antarctic Science

At Potter Cove, King George Island/Isla 25 de Mayo, significant ichthyological research has been conducted in the last three decades, mainly on general ecology of notothenioid species in demersal stages from young juveniles to adults. Nevertheless, the knowledge of the ichthyoplankton composition in the cove, necessary for the overall comprehension of the species life-cycles, remained unexplored. Herein we report the first record of early stages of Antarctic notothenioids collected in pelagic hauls at Potter Cove in summers of 2014 and 2016 at depths of 6-9 m from the surface, where total bottom depth ranged 30-190 m. The ichthyoplankton consisted of a), 37 larval stages (preflexion and postflexion) of the species Harpagifer antarcticus (the most abundant), Psilodraco breviceps, Lepidonotothen squamifrons, Pleuragramma antarcticum and Trematomus scotti; b), 15 eggs of Notothenia coriiceps, of which two larvae hatched in aquarium. Part of this material is illustrated with photographs. The presence of early life stages of fish in the cove is linked to the major influxfrom the Bransfield Strait and also depends on local environmental conditions (i.e. hydrologic, water circulation). In addition to the spawning behavior of Parachaenichthys charcoti already reported in the literature, nearshore localities of the South Shetland Islands such as Potter Cove appear to be spawning sites also for N. coriiceps and H. antarcticus.