Abundance, Distribution, and Diet of a Small‐Bodied Ecotype of Windowpane

Hanson, John Mark; Wilson, Tamara S.

doi:10.1080/00028487.2013.879819

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The Nephrops trawl had a 28-m footrope, 80-mm stretch-measure diamond mesh in the body of the net, 60-mm stretch-measure diamond mesh in the extension piece, and 40-mm stretch-measure diamond mesh in the cod end. The footgear is designed to capture shallowly buried organisms, which results in much higher efficiency at capturing crabs, American lobster, and some species of flounders (Conan et al 1994;Hanson and Wilson 2014) compared with typical bottom trawl survey nets (targeting fish). The Nephrops trawl was towed at a speed of 2.8 km/ h for 5 min.…”

Section: Importance Of American Rock Crab In Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cumulative frequency distributions (Voutier and Hanson 2008;Hanson 2009;Hanson and Wilson 2014) for the combined data from the 2010 and 2011 surveys were used to compare the depth distributions occupied by American lobster and Atlantic rock crab in the Strait. The numbers of American lobster, Atlantic rock crab, and tows were summed for 1-m depth intervals (5-50 m) from which the cumulative frequency distributions were calculated.…”

Section: Importance Of American Rock Crab In Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atlantic Rock Crab, unlike American Lobster, Is Important to Ecosystem Functioning in Northumberland Strait

2014

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To compare the roles of American lobster Homarus americanus and Atlantic rock crab Cancer irroratus in the food web processes of a coastal ecosystem, distribution, abundance, stomach contents, diet overlap, and occurrence in stomachs of predators were described for the two species collected during July-August trawl surveys in Northumberland Strait, southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Atlantic rock crab was more widely distributed, was more numerous on mud and muddy sand substrates, and occurred in deeper water than American lobster. Atlantic rock crab was the principal prey of American lobster while American lobster was almost never eaten by Atlantic rock crab. American lobster (benthic and pelagic stages) was a trace item in all fish and decapod stomachs examined except in those of the Shorthorn Sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpius and other American lobsters. In contrast, Atlantic rock crab larvae commonly occurred in stomachs of many pelagic fishes while small (<40 mm carapace width) benthic individuals were important prey of demersal fish species such as Winter Skate Leucoraja ocellata, Cunner Tautogolabrus adspersus, Longhorn Sculpin M. octodecemspinosus, and Shorthorn Sculpin. Atlantic rock crab had a broad diet consisting of fish, sevenspine bay shrimp Crangon septemspinosa, Atlantic rock crab (mostly cannibalism), bivalves, and polychaetes. American lobster had a narrow diet consisting mainly of Atlantic rock crab with lesser amounts of American lobster (old carapaces and cannibalism) and sea stars. Diet overlap between the two species was moderate and mainly due to joint consumption of Atlantic rock crab. Thus, Atlantic rock crab play a prominent role in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence food web (and therefore energy cycling) while American lobster serves mostly as an energy sink whose loss from the ecosystem would mainly affect people dependent upon the fishery.The ecosystem of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (sGSL) is in a state of rapid change, and demersal fish populations are declining while small fish, some invertebrates (e.g., shrimps), and grey seal Halichoerus grypus populations are increasing. Much of the evidence of this change is based on a time series of indices from the fisheries and research surveys conducted in the midshore region and described in a series of mass-balance models (Savenkoff et al. 2007;Benoit and Swain 2008;Bundy et al. 2009). The coastal waters, however, were explicitly excluded from these analyses because the species composition of the community, abundances, and predator-prey relations were poorly understood. Nevertheless, the sGSL coastal zone supports, or supported, important fisheries for American lobster Homarus americanus, Atlantic rock crab Cancer irroratus, Atlantic Herring Clupea harengus, Winter Flounder Psuedoplueronectes americanus, White Hake Urophycis tenuis, and sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus. Extending the ecosystem-modeling approach requires a great deal of information on the physical structure of the coastal zone as well as quantitative measures of species...

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Section: Importance Of American Rock Crab In Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Importance Of American Rock Crab In Ecosystem Functioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atlantic Rock Crab, unlike American Lobster, Is Important to Ecosystem Functioning in Northumberland Strait

2014

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“…Lower estuarine windowpane abundances in years that followed cold winters also may be indicative of emigration from the Harbor. In the southern Gulf of Maine, windowpane occur in the shallowest and warmest waters available during the summer and are absent in areas where water temperatures were b1°C (Hanson and Wilson, 2014), perhaps moving short distances offshore to overwinter (Hanson and Courtenay, 1995). Nearshore sampling was not conducted in our study to assess offshore movement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Windowpane flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) responses to cold temperature extremes in a Northwest Atlantic estuary

Wilber

Clarke²,

Alcoba

et al. 2016

Journal of Sea Research

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“…The number-286 bottom trawl had a wingspread of 14.8 m, a height of 1.8 m, and headrope and footrope lengths of 17.7 and 22 m, respectively. The mesh size was 140-mm diamond (stretched measure) throughout (double twine mesh in the bellies, extension piece, and cod end), with a 12-mm (stretched measure) liner in the cod end and in the last 3 m of the extension piece (Voutier and Hanson 2008;Hanson and Wilson 2014). Based on net sensors, the average width of the opening (wing tip to wing tip) was 9.0 ± 0.16 m (±95% confidence interval; n = 149; Voutier and Hanson 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding Interactions between Fishes in a Coastal Ecosystem in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Atlantic Canada

Hanson

2018

Trans Am Fish Soc

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Diet composition, diet similarity, and major predator–prey interactions between the 15 most abundant demersal and pelagic fishes (N = 12,163 stomachs) during the period 1999–2003 were described for Northumberland Strait, a semi‐enclosed, marine coastal ecosystem. Of the five pelagic species, Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax ate benthic prey (shrimps and polychaetes); Atlantic Herring Clupea harengus and American Shad Alosa sapidissima consumed small copepods and crab zoeae; and Atlantic Mackerel Scomber scombrus and Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus ate small copepods and moderate amounts of benthic prey and small fishes. Three demersal species were strongly piscivorous but with minimal diet overlap: Sea Ravens Hemitripterus americanus consumed small benthic fishes (especially flounders); Winter Skate Leucoraja ocellata consumed sand lances Ammodytes sp. and Rainbow Smelt; and White Hake Urophycis tenuis consumed Atlantic Herring and Atlantic Mackerel. Cluster analysis revealed seven feeding guilds, of which four contained a single species; consequently, the potential for compensation of predatory function was nonexistent for these guilds. The three multispecies guilds comprised consumers of (1) small copepods and crab zoeae; (2) small benthic invertebrates and polychaetes; and (3) shrimps and crabs. Based on diets, the principal route of energy transfer seemed to be the benthic–detrital pathway; however, confirmation requires representative abundance estimates for the various fishes. Moreover, abundances of many fish species have changed (i.e., most have decreased) since this study was completed, with unknown consequences for food web structure and functioning.

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Abundance, Distribution, and Diet of a Small‐Bodied Ecotype of Windowpane

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Atlantic Rock Crab, unlike American Lobster, Is Important to Ecosystem Functioning in Northumberland Strait

Atlantic Rock Crab, unlike American Lobster, Is Important to Ecosystem Functioning in Northumberland Strait

Windowpane flounder (Scophthalmus aquosus) and winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) responses to cold temperature extremes in a Northwest Atlantic estuary

Feeding Interactions between Fishes in a Coastal Ecosystem in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Atlantic Canada

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