A synthesis of the early life history of the anglerfish, Lophius piscatorius (Linnaeus, 1758) in northern British waters

Abstract

Although the anglerfish Lophius piscatorius is now a species of major commercial importance, our understanding of its basic biology is far from complete. Here, the early life history of L. piscatorius is investigated by otolith daily increment analysis, the application of a particle tracking model and an examination of the geographical distribution of pelagic and demersal anglerfish. Otolith incremental analysis indicates that the pelagic phase is relatively long (ca. 120 days) and growth during the first year of life is rapid. A particle tracking model predicts that pelagic post larvae of known age caught west of the Outer Hebrides could originate from the shelf edge west of Ireland, the Rockall Plateau and the northern perimeter of the North Sea, whereas those caught in the northern North Sea are likely to originate from the western edge of the Norwegian Deep and the shelf edge west and north of Scotland. The model also predicts that a large proportion of the young anglerfish originating from a spawning area located west of the Outer Hebrides will enter the North Sea and that although most of the spawning products originating at Rockall will recruit to the Rockall Plateau some may be transported northwest and some to the northern perimeter of the North Sea. The distribution of the demersal stages suggests that L. piscatorius spawns in deep water, the transition from the pelagic to the demersal phase takes place in relatively shallow water and most recruits enter the North Sea from the north and west. The finding that some juveniles may settle on the seabed hundreds of kilometres from the spawning grounds has major implications for the effective management of the fishery.

Contribution of individual-based coupled physical–biological models to understanding recruitment in marine fish populations

“…Use of ICPBMs in hindcasting mode has been effective in determining potential spawning sites , Hislop et al 2001. However, the hindcasting approach offers the potential to circumvent the challenge of incorporating mortality discussed above, because by definition those individuals that have reached a nursery ground are survivors.…”

“…Many of the early models were based on Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory modular ocean models (Bryan 1969, Cox 1984) that use the finite difference algorithm and fixed depth levels. A popular early implementation of this code was the Hamburg Shelf Ocean Model (HAMSOM), which has been parameterized for several different spatial domains (Bartsch & Coombs 1997, Gallego et al 1999, Hislop et al 2001, Hao et al 2003. This modeling approach continues to see use, most recently in a series of papers by Hinrichsen and colleagues (Voss et al 1999, Hinrichsen et al 2001, 2003a,b, 2005, Koster et al 2001.…”

Distribution, abundance and biological features of anglerfish (<i>Lophius piscatoirus</i> and <i>Lophhius budegassa</i>) (Osteichthyes: Lphiiformes) in the Mediterranean Sea

“…Macpherson and Duarte, 1991). Moreover, L. piscatorius in the North Sea spawns in deep water and the transition from the pelagic to the demersal phase takes place in relatively shallow water (Hislop et al, 2001).…”

“…BERTRAND, L. GIL DE SOLA, C. PAPACONSTANTINOU, G. RELINI and A. SOUPLET (eds. ) Distribution, abundance and biological features of anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius and Lophius budegassa) (Osteichthyes: Lophiiformes) in the Mediterranean Sea* NICOLA UNGARO 1 , GIOVANNI MARANO 1 , ROBERTO AUTERI Dias and Hislop, 1996;Quincoces et al, 1998a,b;Hislop et al, 2000Hislop et al, , 2001. The MEDITS research project allowed to collect, for the first time, a large dataset in a wide area of the Mediterranean Sea by means of trawl surveys (Bertrand et al, 2000(Bertrand et al, , 2002.…”

Sensory constraints in temporal segregation in two species of anglerfish, Lophius budegassa and L. piscatorius

“…This trend reversal probably reflects important changes in the life history of L. piscatorius. Even though there are uncertainties about several key events during the life history of L. piscatorius, many authors agree that this species spawns in deep or very deep water (>1000 m) (reviewed by Hislop et al 2001). At these depths, mature males of 50 to 60 cm are commonly observed (Duarte et al 2001), whereas females of L. piscatorius reach their first maturity at a larger size.…”