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Age and growth of the lantern fish Myctophum nitidulum (Myctophidae) from the tropical Atlantic
Abstract
The larval stage, including metamorphosis, lasts 65 days. Sexual maturity occurs at c7 months, and total duration of life does not exceed one year. Rates of linear, weight, and otolith growth vary in accordance with phases of the lunar cycle, increasing with the new moon and decreasing with a full moon. -after Journal summary
... Fishes 2022, 7, x FOR PEER REVIEW further polished on top of its viewing surface using 1200-and 2500-grit sandpap tain clear longitudinal sections [23,39,40]. Sagittal otoliths were divided into three regions: the central zone (CZ), mid (MZ), and external zone (EZ), as proposed by Gigarosov and cited in subsequen [23,[41][42][43]. CZ is a bright area that covers the primordium and provides a clear of daily growth increments during the larval stage. ...
... In addition, the daily growth incremen CZ and MZ was calculated to determine the proportion of daily growth between and metamorphic stage. The growth model selection was based on the von Be Sagittal otoliths were divided into three regions: the central zone (CZ), middle zone (MZ), and external zone (EZ), as proposed by Gigarosov and cited in subsequent studies [23,[41][42][43]. CZ is a bright area that covers the primordium and provides a clearer record of daily growth increments during the larval stage. ...
... days). CZ varies between different species; for example, 33-43 days in Myctophum nitidulum, 80-139 days in Tarletonbeania crenularis, 22-32 days in B. pterotum, and 14-40 days in C. warmingii [23,[41][42][43]. Additionally, MZ ranged 12-20 days (mean = 16 days), which was similar to Lampanyctodes hectoris (5-9 days), Notoscopelus resplendens (mean = 23 days), and M. asperum (mean = 10 days) [22,47,56]. ...
To obtain the growth and age characteristics of Diaphus brachycephalus in the South China Sea (SCS), specimens of D. brachycephalus were collected by a mid-water trawl in January and June 2015. The relationship between standard length (L) and body weight (W) was W = 0.00002699L2.8789, with no significant differences between the two survey stations and the sexes. Microscopic observation of the sagittal otoliths revealed that the daily growth increments in each period were divided into the central zone, middle zone, and external zone. The age was determined by summing the daily growth increments of the three areas. The von Bertalanffy growth curve fitted to the relationship between age and L was shown as: L = 65.6[1 − exp{−0.0132(t − 6.94)}], r² = 0.935. The growth rate decreased from juvenile to adult, with a maximum rate of 0.436 mm day⁻¹. The back-calculated hatching dates of specimens were speculated to be from March to November, but predominantly occurred from April to May and from September to October.
... To avoid misunderstandings by using terms of otolith microstructure related to life history traits we chose to use nomenclature based on the location of particular features in otolith sections. The otolith microstructure followed the nomenclature as proposed by Gigarosov and Ovcharov (1992) and later by Bystydzieńska et al. (2010) and Hosseini-Shekarabi et al. (2015) for lanternfish otoliths, who assumed the existence of three zones of growth increments within lanternfish otoliths: central zone (CZ), middle zone (MZ) and external zone (EZ). The CZ is at the centre of the otolith, and its increment usually indicates the larval stage duration. ...
... This phenomenon might be caused by the variation in ambient temperature and geographic distribution of lanternfishes (Jones 2002;Caruso et al. 2006). The duration of larval stage is a specific character of species that can vary due to environmental factors, mostly temperature and/or food availability (Gigarosov and Ovcharov 1992;Takagi et al. 2006;Bystydzieńska et al. 2010; Hosseini- Shekarabi et al. 2015). Therefore, the increments in the CZ of lanternfish sagittal otolith may vary. ...
... Furthermore, significant differences in increments in the CZ were also found among different lanternfish species, e.g. 33-43 days in Myctophum nitidulum (Gigarosov and Ovcharov 1992), 22-32 days in B. pterotum (Hosseini-Shekarabi et al. 2015), 30-64 days in S. californiensis (Takagi et al. 2006), and even 80-139 days in Tarletonbeania crenularis from a higher latitude (Bystydzieńska et al. 2010). ...
Age and growth of a dominant lanternfish Ceratoscopelus warmingii in the South China Sea were investigated based on sagittal otolith microstructure of juvenile and adult specimens collected in June 2015. The length–weight (L-W) relationship for C. warmingii was Wf = 0.00000814 L3.1170 (females) and Wm = 0.00001071 L3.3043 (males), revealing both positive allometric growth and non-significant difference between the sexes. Three distinct zones of the otolith microstructure were depicted, a central zone (CZ), middle zone (MZ) and external zone (EZ). Age was estimated by summing the daily growth increments in otolith sections on the assumption of daily deposition. The von Bertalanffy models of females and males were fitted as Lf = 75.9 [1−exp{−0.0074 (t−14.1)}] and Lm = 65.0[1−exp{−0.0097 (t−7.6)}], respectively. The maximum growth rates estimated were 0.319 mm day⁻¹ for females and 0.345 mm day⁻¹ for males, and thereafter the growth rate decreased with age. The back-calculated hatching date of specimens collected was determined as from August of last year to March of next year with a peak in winter. Theoretical maximum growth of C. warmingii appeared to occur near the metamorphic period.
... Microincrements were enumerated from the first distinguishable increment after the primordium, or 'core', to the otolith edge. The nomenclature of otolith microstructure was according to Giragosov and Ovcharov (1992). Three zones of growth increments were observed in the otoliths. ...
... These growth increments have been useful and used on many occasions to estimate age and growth in myctophid species (Young et al., 1988;Gartner, 1991a;Linkowski et al., 1993;Greely et al., 1999;Takagi et al., 2006;Bystydzieǹska et al., 2010;García-Seoane et al., 2015a). However, the studies of age and growth using annual deposition patterns and its validation with the microstructure are scarce (Giragosov and Ovcharov, 1992;Greely et al., 1999;Shelekhov, 2004;García-Seoane et al., 2015b). ...
... Increments in the larval and postlarval areas of N. resplendens were well defined and clearly visible. The results of the number of microincrement counts with a light microscope in the larval and postlarval zones were similar to those obtained in other studies on otoliths of myctophids (Gartner, 1991a;Giragosov and Ovcharov, 1992;Greely et al., 1999;Takagi et al., 2006;García-Seoane et al., 2015a). These results suggest that a light microscope resolution can be used to identify microincrements in larval and postlarval zones for N. resplendens. ...
The mesopelagic fish Notoscopelus resplendens is distributed mainly between 500 and 1000 m of depth during the day, with diel migration to surface waters at night (<90 m). Fish move during their diel migrations across different water masses, which show strong changes in temperature with depth that can reach 7 °C in the first 300 m during the warm season. N. resplendens show a type of diel migration pattern of the “entire migrant”, showing a clear day-night habitat separation, with peak abundance above 200 m at night. The difference between sexes in maximum size was 1.97 mm SL (84.36 mm, males; 82.39 mm females). The spawning season can be determined from December to March by back calculating the hatching date from daily growth increments. Age at first maturity was 1.7 year for males and 2.05 years for females. The sex ratio showed a predominance of males (1:0.67). Males were significantly more abundant than females in the 1-year age class. In the rest of the age classes, no significant differences were observed. A sexually dimorphic nature in relation to the position of the accessory luminous glands was observed. Three growth regions were observed in the otolith corresponding to different rates of deposition during fish ontogeny. Daily growth increments were calculated as validation of the annuli pattern. The pattern of the increment formation showed that each annulus has a unimodal distribution. The increment width decreases with age from 1 to 4 years. A strong relationship was found between both diameters of the otolith and length and between otolith weight and age. Different growth models have been analysed to understand the growth of this species. Gomperzt and von Bertalanffy were the best models obtained and revealed differences in growth between sexes. The maximum age recorded was 4 years. The SL-TW relationship showed allometric positive growth. The natural mortality coefficient for the overall population derived from the age-frequency distribution was 0.579 year−1. M obtained from the length converted catch curve was very similar at M = 0.549 year−1
... The LZ, which is surrounded by the "metamorphic check", is the core portion of the lanternfish otolith. The number of increments in the core zone of the M. asperum otolith revealed an average age of 30.4 ± 5.5 days, while it was determined to be 33-43 days in spotted lanternfish M. nitidulum (Giragosov, 1992) and 22-32 days in B. pterotum (Hosseini-Shekarabi et al., 2015), far shorter than age 80-139 days in the high-latitude lanternfish Tarletonbeania crenularis (Bystydzieńska et al., 2010). Increments in the PLZ were 10.3 ± 2.2, suggesting a short metamorphosis of M. asperum. ...
... Increments in the PLZ were 10.3 ± 2.2, suggesting a short metamorphosis of M. asperum. This conclusion is at odds with data from other myctophid species (Giragosov, 1992;Linkowski, 1997;Bystydzieńska et al., 2010;Hosseini-Shekarabi et al., 2015). Because of the differences observed among various myctophid species, the formation of the darkest portion of the otolith has been interpreted in various ways. ...
... On the basis of the different growth patterns found in the sagittal section, we distinguished three growth zones: central (CZ), middle (MZ), and external (EZ) zones (the description of the otolith zones is reported in the results section). Microincrements count for each otolith zone started from the first noticeable increment after the central primordium to the otolith edge [29,38,39]. For lanternfishes, these otolith regions usually correspond to the larval zone (LZ), post-larval zone (PLZ), and post-metamorphic zone (PMZ), respectively [40][41][42], but in the present paper we prefer to avoid referring to otolith growth zones using terms related to the life history because there are very few studies on Phosichthyidae and an accurate validation of daily growth increments has not been done yet. ...
The age and growth of the slender lightfish Vinciguerria attenuata are investigated for the first time by the analysis of otolith microstructure. A total of 242 individuals (standard length range = 15.3–39.0 mm) are collected from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea). The analysis of the length–weight relationship highlights a hyper-allometric growth for all specimens, while when males and females are analyzed separately, the results point out an isometric growth for males and hyper-allometric growth for females, although no statistical differences emerge comparing sex curves (p-value = 0.06). Microincrement readings are considered valid only for 214 sagittal otoliths. Microincrement counts range from 31 to 49 (average = 39.9) in the otolith central zone, 28 to 53 (average = 43.2) in the middle zone, and 15 to 332 (average = 136.1) in the external zone. Overall, total microincrements range between 75 and 418. Different growth models (von Bertalanffy, Gompertz and logistic models) are taken into account to select the best-fitting model in describing the growth patterns in V. attenuata. The logistic growth model is selected as the best-fitting model, and its parameters for all individuals are L∞ = 38.597, k = 0.0104 and I = 122.4.
... Microincrements were counted from the core to the otolith edge, according to [10,35], starting from the first distinguishable increment after the central primordium and annotating the number of increments for each otolith region: central (CZ), middle (MZ), and external zones (EZ). According to previous studies [10,11,36], this nomenclature is based on the particular features of the different regions in otolith sections and avoids linking the otolith microstructure to life history traits. Indeed, according to other authors (e.g., [12,14,17], these otolith regions correspond to the larval zone (LZ), post-larval zone (PLZ) and post-metamorphic zone (PMZ), respectively. ...
This study investigated, for the first time, the age and growth of the spotted lanternfish Myctophum punctatum through an analysis of otolith microstructure. A total of 377 individuals were collected from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea), ranging between 20.3 and 73.7 mm of standard length. Their length–weight relationship was estimated, and these outputs indicated an isometric growth, for all specimens and when males and females were analysed separately. The sagittal otoliths were removed from 185 fish, although the microincrement readings were considered valid for only 173 otoliths. Microincrement counts ranged from 32 to 48 (average = 37.6) in the otolith central zone, 30 to 56 (average = 44.3) in the middle zone, and 36 to 384 (average = 165.5) in the external zone. Overall, total microincrements ranged between 106 and 469. Different growth models (Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and logistic models) were considered, to understand which one fit best in describing the growth patterns in M. punctatum. The Gompertz model was then selected as the best-fitting model and its parameters for all individuals were L∞ = 74.79, k = 0.0084 and I = 139.60.
... The age and growth of Benthosema glaciale (Reinhardt 1837) has been reported (Halliday 1970;Gjosaeter 1981;Albikovskaya 1988;Garcia-Seoane 2013) while in another study Gartner (1991) estimated the growth rate of a subtropical species Benthosema suborbital (Gilbert 1913), inhabiting the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Giragosov and Ovcharov (1992) studied the growth of Myctophum nitidulum Garman 1899 of tropical Atlantic waters while Hayashi et al. (2001) determined the age of Myctophum asperum Richardson 1845, inhabiting Kuroshio waters. ...
Aspects of population dynamics of Spinycheek lanternfish Benthosema fibulatum (Gilbert and Cramer 1897), caught off the southwest coast of India were studied. The asymptotic length (L∞) and growth constant (K) were estimated at 108 mm and 0.460 yr-1 respectively while tmax was worked out as 6 years. Benthosema fibulatum grows faster initially and attains a total length of 101.22 mm over 6 years. The coefficients of total mortality (Z), instantaneous natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were estimated as 2.32 yr-1 , 0.51 yr-1 and 1.81 yr-1 respectively. The exploitation rate (E) was estimated as 0.78 yr-1. Size at first capture (Lc) was estimated as 62.84 mm TL. The relative yield per recruit reached maximum at an exploitation rate (Emax) of 0.772. Though there has been no targeted fishery for myctophids in the area of study, they constituted a significant proportion of bycatch of deep sea shrimp trawlers. Benthosema fibulatum stock may be unsustainable when fishery intensifies in future to meet demand from fish meal industry, unless proper action is taken to manage the stocks.
Additional and alternative sustainable food resources are needed as the global human population increases. Marine fishes have long provided essential nutrients, such as omega-3 long-chain (≥C20) polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA), protein, and vitamins to meet human dietary requirements and feed for agricultural production. Many current commercial fish stocks are depleted or fully exploited, but oceanic mesopelagic fishes, particularly the myctophids (lanternfishes), represent a potentially very large and unfished resource. This review analysed the literature on nutritional and biochemical compositions of myctophids as a first step towards understanding the health benefits and risks of consuming them. We found that myctophids have high levels of protein (11–23% wet weight, WW) and variable lipid content (0.5–26% WW). In most species, desirable triacylglycerols or phospholipids dominated over less-desirable wax esters, and most have abundant amounts of health-promoting n-3 LC-PUFA, such as DHA and EPA. Myctophids have low levels of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. Most nutritional information is available for species from the Pacific and Southern Oceans and for the genera Benthosema, Electrona, and Diaphus. Myctophids generally possess favourable nutritional profiles, but major gaps in knowledge regarding their stock assessment, ecology and the economic viability for their harvest are barriers to developing sustainable fisheries.
The mesopelagic zone covers a vast expanse of the World's oceans and contains some of the most abundant vertebrates on the planet. This mid-water region is central to the transfer of energy and carbon between the atmosphere and the deep, yet there are large knowledge gaps in our understanding of the life history of its animals. Here we synthesize the current state of knowledge of research on age, growth, and reproduction of mesopelagic fishes, the basic biological information fundamental to understanding the population dynamics of species in this ecosystem. Collectively, two-thirds of life history research on mesopelagic fishes has been undertaken on myctophids, yet many other abundant and important groups are lacking research. There are generally hotspots of mesopelagic fish research mostly centred in the northern hemisphere, with little to no coverage in the Indo-Pacific region nor the poles. Furthermore, the effects of some anthropogenic stressors-chiefly climate change and resource extraction-on the life history of the animals in this zone is uncertain and needs to be considered. Knowledge of growth and reproduction are key traits required for a holistic assessment and understanding of this ecosystem, and hopefully this synthesis will provide a springboard for greater focus in this area.
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