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Publication
Small scale temporal patterns of recruitment and hatching of Atlantic horse mackerel (L.) at a nearshore reef area
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus, Linnaeus, 1758) is a highly exploited
species, common throughout the North-East Atlantic. As a pelagic-neritic fish it typically
occurs over the shelf from the surface to 200 m deep on sandy bottoms. Most
research has focused on distributions of adults or early life stages (eggs and larvae)
of this species in offshore waters and only a few studies have reported the occurrence
of early stages near the coast. However, these nearshore environments might
be important for the early growth and survival of the Atlantic horse mackerel. In
addition, little is known on how environmental processes might affect the early
stages of this species. Here, we monitored weekly recruitment of horse mackerel to
artificial substrates (SMURFS) deployed near the coast at both the surface and near
the bottom, and back-calculated hatching cohorts. The relationship of both recruitment
and hatching patterns with environmental factors was investigated. From a
total of 2,515 fish, 2,490 (99%) recruited to surface SMURFS. A GAM and GAMM
analysis of the recruitment and hatching patterns, respectively, revealed a strong
relationship with the lunar cycle and upwelling. Both recruitment and hatching
showed lunar periodicity, with peaks near the new moon and revealed to be influenced
negatively by upwelling. This study suggests that the nearshore environment
might be an important nursery area for post-larval and early juvenile Atlantic horse
mackerel
Description
Keywords
Hatching Juvenile Lunar pattern Recruitment Trachurus trachurus Upwelling
Citation
Fisheries Oceanography 1–12. DOI: 10.1111/fog.12269
Publisher
Blackwell Publishing