Spatial patterns of summer demersal fish assemblages around the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands

FACUNDO LLOMPART; MATÍAS DELPIANI; EUGENIA LATTUCA; GABRIELA DELPIANI; ADRIANA CRUZ-JIMÉNEZ; PAULA ORLANDO; SANTIAGO CEBALLOS; JUAN MARTÍN DÍAS DE ASTARLOA; FABIÁN VANELLA; DANIEL FERNÁNDEZ

ANTARCTIC SCIENCE

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2014 p. 1 - 10

0954-1020

During the research programme carried out by the OV Puerto Deseado in the summers of 2011 and 2013, 36 stations were sampled using a demersal net at depths between 52.8?590m in the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands.Atotal 3378 fish specimens belonging to 36 species were recorded. Notothenidae was the best-represented family in species number, with Lepidonotothen nudifrons, Lepidonotothen larseni and Trematomus scotti being the most numerous species. Of the fish assemblages 20% of the species were considered as dominant, 10% as common, 13% as occasional and 57% as rare. Six groups (and two sub-groups) were obtained by the ordination diagram based on geographical location: group 1 = Gerlache Strait, group 2 = Deception Islands, group 3 = Biscoe Island, group 4 = between Elephant and King George islands, group 5 = northern Antarctic Peninsula, and group 6 = South Shetland Islands, with sub-groups 6a shallower South Shetland Islands and 6b deeper South Shetland Islands. Sampling depth and water temperature significantly explained the spatial pattern. A latitudinal pattern of decreasing abundance from north-east to south-west was found in L. larseni and the opposite in T. scotti. Given the predictability of fish composition in the assemblages? areas it could be a useful tool for ecosystem-based management.