Publication Abstract

Spatio-temporal patterns in abundance of larval fish from Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) surveys in the North, Celtic and Irish Seas (1950-2005)

Spatio-temporal patterns in abundance of larval fish from Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) surveys in the North, Celtic and Irish Seas (1950-2005)

C.P. Lynam, S. Pitois, N.C. Halliday and M. Edwards

Data from Continuous Plankton Recorders (CPR) are well known for long time-series of copepod and phytoplankton abundance data that they provide. However, CPRs also sample fish larvae, albeit less efficiently, and these captures have traditionally been reported simply as ‘fish larvae’. The visual identification of separate species or families in historic CPR larval samples (1950-2005) has been completed this year (2010) and the two most abundant families are the Clupeidae (herring/sprats) and Ammodytidae (sandeels). We explore here potential relationships between fish larvae in the North, Celtic and Irish Seas to prey abundance (copepods), phytoplankton (diatoms and dinoflagellates) and sea surface temperature. Potential ecosystem regime shifts encompassing all areas and trophic levels are investigated using multivariate statistical methods. We also examine the possible use of the larval data for stock assessment, in particular for the sandeel stock of Ammodytes marinus in the North Sea.

Reference:

Poster: 5th zooplankton production symposium, March 14-18 2011, Pucon, Chile.

C.P. Lynam, S. Pitois, N.C. Halliday and M. Edwards

5th zooplankton production symposium, March 14-18 2011, Pucon, Chile