First Insights Into the Growth and Population Structure of Cottoperca trigloides (Perciformes, Bovichtidae) From the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

LATTUCA, MARÍA EUGENIA; LLOMPART, FACUNDO; AVIGLIANO, ESTEBAN; RENZI, MARTA; DE LEVA, ILEANA; BOY, CLAUDIA CLEMENTINA; VANELLA, FABIÁN ALBERTO; BARRANTES, MARÍA EUGENIA; FERNÁNDEZ, DANIEL ALFREDO; DE ALBUQUERQUE, CRISTIANO QUEIROZ

FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE

Frontiers Media SA

Lugar: Lausanne; Año: 2020 vol. 7

2296-7745

The aim of this work was to describe the growth of Cottoperca trigloides, a notothenioidspecies with a non-Antarctic distribution, and to test the existence of different nurseryareas and fish stocks through changes in the otolith elemental composition. Fish werecollected during spring 2009 over the Patagonia continental shelf, including the MarineProtected Area Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank, in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. Theage and growth analyses were performed by counting marks in sagittae, assuming anannual periodicity of their deposition, and identified 8-year classes (0+ to 7+). Giventhe size range of the fish, length-at-age data were fitted to the Gompertz growthmodel TLt = 55.45 [exp ((exp) ?0.32 (t ? 1.89))], explaining more than 95% of thegrowth pattern. Moreover, the chemical composition of otolith core and edge areaswas analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Thecanonical analysis of principal coordinates successfully allocated 72.92% of the fish forthe core and 91.67% for the edge area of the otolith, in three groups correspondingto ?northern Patagonia shelf,? ?southern Patagonia shelf,? and ?Marine ProtectedArea Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank? areas, suggesting a high segregation among themover the Patagonian shelf. Thus, otolith elemental composition has proven to be anefficient approach to identify different nursery areas and stocks for the species. Thepresent results provide new information on the growth and the population structure ofC. trigloides, from a geographical area where information on this issue is still scarce,constituting an essential tool to develop conservation principles for the species.