Aspects of Vertical Distribution and Ecology of the Dominant Meso- and Bathypelagic Fishes from the Norfolk Canyon Region
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1980 Aspects of vertical distribution and ecology of the dominant meso- and bathypelagic fishes from the Norfolk Canyon region John V. Gartner College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography Commons Recommended Citation Gartner, John V., "Aspects of vertical distribution and ecology of the dominant meso- and bathypelagic fishes from the Norfolk Canyon region" (1980). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539617501. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-hh66-jz44 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ASPECTS OF VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY OF THE DOMINANT MESO- AND BATHYPELAGIC FISHES FROM THE NORFOLK CANYON REGION A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Ichthyology The Virginia Institute of Marine Science and School of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by John Vo Gartner, Jr. 1980 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts /7 / / / ^ 'Autrror ^ Approved, December 1980 [usick, ComniiFtee Chairman Evon P. Ruzecki r i David E. Zwerner Robert H. Gibbs, JjfZ Curator of Fishe; United States Museum of Natural History Washington, D.C. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................. iv LIST OF T A B L E S .................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............. xiv ABSTRACT ........................... xvi GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............. ............................. 2 GENERAL METHODS AND MATERIALS .................................... 3 PART I. VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE MIDWATER FISHES IN NORFOLK CANYON ................... 13 PART II. FEEDING HABITS AND TROPHIC ECOLOGY OF SELECTED DOMINANT MESO- AND BATHYPELAGIC FISHES FROM THE NORFOLK CANYON REGION .......................... 98 PART III. THE PARASITE FAUNAS OF SELECTED DOMINANT MESO- AND BATHYPELAGIC FISHES OF NORFOLK CANYON, WITH NOTES ON THE ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATION OF THEIR PRESENCE .... 199 CONCLUSIONS .......... .......... ..... 272 APPENDIX A .......................... 278 APPENDIX B ...... ................. 282 APPENDIX C .................. 285 LITERATURE CITED ......... .......... ............ 287 VITA 300 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion of this study would not have been possible without the help of many people who gave freely of their time, advice, and expertise throughout the course of my work. I first wish to thank my committee members, Dr. John A. Musick, Dr. Robert J. Diaz, Dr. Evon P. Ruzecki, and Mr. David E. Zwerner of VIMS, and Dr. Robert H. Gibbs, Jr. of the United States National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C., for their critical review of the manuscript. I am grateful to all of them for answering many barrages of questions, as well as for their patient sifting through the many pages presented in early drafts. These and other people also provided help in specific sections of the thesis: Part I, Vertical Distribution- Drs. Jack Musick and Bob Gibbs provided much valuable information on midwater fish distributions, while Dr. Bob Diaz answered many questions regarding statistical analyses, and helped me set up the NPAR1WAY program. Dr. John Ruzecki supplied extensive information concerning the hydrographic regime around Norfolk Canyon, as well temperature and salinity data for the three R/V Gilliss cruises dealt with in this study. I also wish to thank Mr. Ken Tighe of Ecological Analysts, Inc., Forked River, N.J., and Mr. Dave Bengston of the University of Rhode Island for the use of distributional data from their theses on Serrivomer species and Nemichthys scolopaceus, respectively. Dr. George Grant and John Olney provided VIMS Planktology data on shallow water near-shore captures of Benthosema glaciale and Ceratoscopelus maderensis in the Norfolk Canyon area. Part II, Feeding Habits- A great many people aided me in this portion of the study through the generous loan of their unpublished data, and helped in making or confirming identifications, as well as answering many questions and providing keys and/or reference specimens for comparison with prey items. Special thanks are due to Dr. George R. Sedberry, now at the South Carolina Marine Resources Center, Charleston, S.C., for supplying extensive information regarding types of food habits analyses, and for allowing me to use unpublished stomach content data for six specimens of Nessorhamphus ingolfianus and 17 specimens of Derichthys serpentinus from cruise CI-73-1Q. I also thank Dr. Jack Musick and Mr. Ken Sulak for submersible observations related to feeding, and Mr. Roy Crabtree for unpublished macrourid stomach data. Drs. Richard H. Backus and James E. Craddock of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution kindly loaned me 18 specimens of pelagically captured Scopelogadus beanii for use in comparative feeding studies, while Dr. William L. Fink and Mr. Karsten Hartel of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University allowed me to dissect an additional 16 specimens of S. beanii. A number of people at VIMS helped me with identification of various prey items. Ms. Marcia Bowen (Ostracods), Mr. Gary Gaston (Polychaetes), Dr. George Grant (Gelantinous Zooplankton and Copepods), Ms. Cathy Meyer (Copepods), Mr. Karl Nilsen (Bivalve Mollusc), Mr. Peter Smythe (Euphausiids), Mr. Jacques van Montfrans (Penaeid and Caridean shrimps), Dr. Michael Vecchione (Cephalopods), and Ms. Cathy Womack (Hyperiid Amphipods) identified, provided literature for the identification of, or confirmed identifications of the mentioned prey groups, and I thank them for their time and interest. Dr. Thomas E. Bowman of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, United States National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., supplied information regarding the vertical distribution of Parathemisto gaudichaudii near Norfolk Canyon, for which I am grateful. Part III, Parasitology- I wish to thank the entire Parasitology Department at VIMS for their tremendous helpfulness and assistance throughout this portion of my study. Dr. Frank 0. Perkins graciously allowed the use of materials and technician time for preparation of histological sections. In addition, he provided information regarding fungal stains and morphology. Ms. Patrice Mason ably performed numerous histological preparations for me. Dr. Gene Burreson, Mr. Dave Zwerner, Mr. Dave Benner, and Mr. Joe Sypek all pitched in with great enthusiasm and contributed a lot of time to teach me parasitological techniques, provide references and available literature, and aid in identification of various parasite groups. I am especially indebted to Dave Zwerner for the many kindnesses and continual support he showed me throughout the course of this study. Mr. Tom Munroe also provided data and information on deep-sea parasites, and staining techniques that were helpful for working on trematodes. Dr. Robin M. Overstreet, Gulf Coast Research Lab, Ocean Springs, Miss., kindly took the time to confirm identifications of the digeneti trematodes. Dr. Ronald A. Campbell of Southeastern Massachusetts University has also been most helpful, confirming the adult cestode as a new genus, examining the trypanorhynch larvae, and also commenting on the manuscript. I also want to thank my fellow graduate students at VIMS for their part in making my stay at VIMS enjoyable both during and after school. I especially want to thank the Ichthyology crew; Bill Raschi, Ken Sulak, George Sedberry, Roy Crabtree, Tom Munroe, Jacques Carter, and Eric Anderson, for helping to maintain a balanced atmosphere of academia and insanity. A special thanks is extended to the long-suffering typists and word processing people who managed to decipher my writing and get everything in print; Barbara Taylor and Nancy Peters in Ichthyology, and Annette Stubbs, Cheryl Ripley, and Ruth Edwards of Word Processing. My parents, John and Mary, and the rest of my family have always been a source of love and support for me in this and all my endeavors, and for this I am especially grateful. Finally, I would like to thank Joby Hauer for her patience and understanding throughout the long haul. LIST OF TABLES Part I. Vertical Distribution Table Page 1 List of Meso- and Bathypelagic Fishes Captured around Norfolk Canyon with Numbers of Specimens and Stations . 22 2 CPUE (No. Specimens/0.5 hr.) by Depth Strata for each Season and Overall (Specimens from Water Hauls Excluded) . 25 3 Vertical Distribution of Nemichthys scolopaceus based on CPUE (Spec. /0.5 hr.) .................................... 34 4 Day-Night CPUE (Spec./0.5 hr.) for Nemichthys scolopaceus . 37 5a Vertical Distribution of Serrivomer beanii based on CPUE (Spec./0.5 h r . ) .................................................... 38 5b Vertical Distribution of Serrivomer brevidentatus based on CPUE (Spec./0.5 hr.) . ................................. 41 6 Mean Haul Depth of Trawls Capturing Serrivomer vs. S_. brevidentatus ........................ 42 7a Vertical Distribution of Nessorhamphus ingolfianus based on CPUE (Spec./0.5 hr.) .........................