Daytime pelagic schooling behaviour and relationships with plankton patch distribution in the Sicily Strait (Mediterranean Sea)


Submitted: 5 June 2015
Accepted: 5 June 2015
Published: 17 June 2011
Abstract Views: 978
HTML: 230
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • B. Patti Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • A. Bonanno Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • M. D'Elia Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • E. Quinci Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • G. Giacalone Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • I. Fontana Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • S. Aronica Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • G. Basilone Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Capo Granitola (TP), Italy.
  • S. Mazzola Istituto per l’Ambiente Marino Costiero , Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Sede di Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
In this study, hydroacoustic data collected with a scientific echosounder working at two frequencies (38 and 120 kHz) over the continental shelf off the southern Sicilian coast were used in order to investigate the relationship between fish schools and plankton patches. Specifically, image analysis algorithms were applied to raw echograms in order to detect and characterise pelagic fish schools and plankton aggregations, considered as a proxy of food availability. The relationship was first investigated using estimated total plankton biomass over the whole water column and, second, by dividing the study area into three sub-regions and further distinguishing plankton patches between the surface and the bottom. In the relatively lower plankton abundance areas of Zone 1 (northern sector of the study area), results showed an inverse relationship between the biomass (and density) of fish schools and the biomass of co-occurring plankton patches located close to the bottom. Instead, over the Sicilian-Maltese shelf (Zone 3), characterised by higher plankton abundances, a direct relationship was found when using plankton data from the whole water column. The observed difference between Zones 1 and 3 is probably due to diverse dominant fish species in the two sub-regions.

Patti, B., Bonanno, A., D’Elia, M., Quinci, E., Giacalone, G., Fontana, I., Aronica, S., Basilone, G., & Mazzola, S. (2011). Daytime pelagic schooling behaviour and relationships with plankton patch distribution in the Sicily Strait (Mediterranean Sea). Advances in Oceanography and Limnology, 2(1), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.4081/aiol.2011.5318

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations