US AMLR data sets - Finfishes and Benthic Invertebrates

South Shetland Islands (Subarea 48.1) 1998, 2001, 2003 Antarctic Peninsula (Subarea 48.1) 2006South Orkney Islands (Subarea 48.2) 1999, 2009

Periodic surveys of finfish and benthic invertebrates:6 AMLR demersal surveys from 1998-2009

Data from two CCAMLR Subareas: 48.1 & 48.2

AMLR finfish survey databases reside here and at the CCAMLR Secretariat

63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55

Longitude

63.0

62.5

62.0

61.5

61.0

Latit

ude

50-100100-200200-300300-400400-500

D epth S trata (m )

South Shetland Islands Demersal/Benthic Surveys

61.0 60.5 60.0 59.5 59.0 58.5 58.0 57.5 57.0 56.5 56.0 55.5 55.0 54.5 54.0 53.5

Longitude (W )

63.8

63.6

63.4

63.2

63.0

62.8

62.6

62.4

62.2

62.0

61.8

Latit

ude

(S)

Trinity

Peninsula

Joinville Is.

D 'Urville Is.

South Shetla

nd Islands

100-200 n=16

200-300 n=18

300-400 n=14

400-500 n=11

D epth S trata (m )

500-800 n=3

50-100 n=3

Antarctic Peninsula Demersal/Benthic Survey

47.5 47.0 46.5 46.0 45.5 45.0 44.5 44.0 43.5 43.0 42.5

Longitude

62.2

62.0

61.8

61.6

61.4

61.2

61.0

60.8

60.6

60.4

Latit

ude

50-150 m

150-250 m

250-500 m600-800 m

Depth S trata (m )

South Orkney Islands Demersal/Benthic Surveys

Data Collection: Finfish

• Species identification: ~60 species of finfish

• Length, weight, sex & maturity

• Stomach content analysis (composition, filling degree, degree of digestion)

• Physiological measurements

• Environmental variables

• Material retained:- Whole specimens (835 specimens of 70 species)- Otoliths & hard parts (2583, of 21 species)- Tissue biopsies and DNA (>2000)- Gonads (265 of 12 species)

Data Collection: Invertebrate and Other

• Benthic invertebrate characterization- 61 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at sea- 18 taxa provisionally recognized by CCAMLR to indicate

the presence of a Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) – number may increase

• High resolution video and photo transects

• Krill density (acoustic & net sampling)

• CTD

• Invertebrate specimens retained (over 2500 specimens of at least 500 species)

• Seabed classification

Uses of AMLR Demersal/Benthic Survey Data

Characterize Antarctic demersal finfish in the Southern Scotia Arc region:- abundance - biology- composition - ecology- spatial distribution- evolutionary phylogeny- physiology - taxonomy

Characterize epibenthic invertebrate megafauna:- abundance - composition

- spatial distribution- detection of vulnerable - new species marine ecosystems (VMEs)- bioregionalization - evolutionary phylogeny- taxonomy - reproduction

Only datasets available that capture properties of abundance and distribution of demersal finfish, their prey, and habitat characteristics

Only comprehensive dataset of composition and spatial distribution of benthic invertebrate megafauna in the Southern Scotia Arc

Most comprehensive datasets of dietary components of demersal finfish in the Southern Scotia Arc

Most comprehensive dataset for demersal fishes in the Southern Scotia Arc (Subarea 48.1 & 48.2), only scientific survey conducted along the Antarctic Peninsula

Uniqueness of AMLR Demersal/Benthic Data