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Comments
Last night we continued to ride out the weather. The wind has now dropped slightly and we are heading back to site 59 to assess whether trawling is possible, if not we will attempt CTD sampling until conditions improve. So far, we have caught at least 38 fish species, including 32 Notothenioids, 2 or more Liparids and 4 Zoarcids. The number of species continues to increase every day. Interestingly, many species previously recorded to be common in the depth range 0 - 200 m along the Terre Adelie coast (Trematomus newnesi, Notothenia coriiceps, T. bernacchi, T. hansoni, Pagothenia borchgrevinki, Gymnodraco acuticeps) are rare or absent in our catches. The exceptions are two species, the icefish (Chionodraco hamatus) and the pelagic species, Pleuragramma antarcticum, which were previously found to be common in the shallow coastal areas and are also common at our sites. The latter dominates almost all catches in a range of sizes from small fingerlings to large size adults. Most species caught since the beginning of the voyage are not new to science, but previously had not been recorded in this sector of the Eastern Antarctic continental shelf. The catches are highly diverse but it is too early to say whether diversity is linked to seabed type or to particular types of benthic assemblage. We have collected many fingerlings and post-larval fish from the canyons, suggesting that these steep and rugged areas may play a role as nursery grounds for some species, particularly channichthyids. We have not yet caught any skate although they are known from the area off Dumont D’Urville and have been observed in our videos. They are probably escaping in front of the trawl. Regards, Martin and Sarah.
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.