Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Oct;105(4):1178-1188.
doi: 10.1111/jfb.15872. Epub 2024 Jul 19.

Anchovy and sardine condition and energy content in the North Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) in relation to their contrasting reproductive strategies

Eudoxia Schismenou  1 , Stavros Chatzifotis  2 , Kostas Tsiaras  3 , Stylianos Somarakis  1
Affiliations

Anchovy and sardine condition and energy content in the North Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) in relation to their contrasting reproductive strategies

Eudoxia Schismenou et al. J Fish Biol. 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Forage species with high biomass, such as anchovies and sardines, play a key role in pelagic ecosystems and make up a significant proportion of the world's capture fisheries production. In recent years, condition indices have gained interest as significant indicators for assessing the effects of environmental and human pressures on these species and the quality of their habitats. In the present study, we examined, for the first time in the North Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean), the year-round variation in somatic and gonadal condition, energy density, and percentage of lipid content of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Energy density was measured with bomb calorimetry and percentage lipid content with the fatmeter, a portable electronic device. Finally, the monthly changes in gonadal and energetic condition were examined in relation to the annual cycle of temperature and mesozooplankton biomass, simulated by the implementation of a coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model (POM-ERSEM). There was a strong relationship between fish energy density (kJ g-1) and percentage dry weight. Furthermore, the mean monthly energy density and fatmeter measurements were strongly correlated, especially in sardine. Overall, the monthly changes in energetic condition were indicative of the species' different strategies for energy acquisition and allocation to reproduction (capital vs. income breeding): sardine exhibited low energy density and percentage lipid content during the winter spawning period (November-March) and markedly higher energetic condition from spring to autumn (April-October). Anchovy spawning period, as inferred from gonadal condition, lasted from April to September, i.e., during the warm period of the year but its energy density and percentage lipid content did not exhibit any seasonal changes and were markedly lower than in sardine from April to October. Finally, the simulated mesozooplankton biomass was higher from January to July, which corresponded to the second half of the spawning season for sardine, but first half of the spawning season for anchovy.

Keywords: European anchovy; European sardine; energy density; fatmeter; gonadosomatic index; somatic condition.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Albo‐Puigserver, M., Muñoz, A., Navarro, J., Coll, M., Pethybridge, H., Sánchez, S., & Palomera, I. (2017). Ecological energetics of forage fish from the Mediterranean Sea: Seasonal dynamics and interspecific differences. Deep–Sea Research Part II, 140, 74–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2017.03.002
    1. Albo‐Puigserver, M., Pennino, M. G., Bellido, J. M., Colmenero, A. I., Giráldez, A., Hidalgo, M., Gabriel Ramírez, J., Steenbeek, J., Torre, S. P., Cousido‐Rocha, M., & Coll, M. (2021). Changes in life history traits of small pelagic fish in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 570354. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.570354
    1. Albo‐Puigserver, M., Sanchez, S., Coll, M., Bernal, M., Saez‐Liante, R., Navarro, J., & Palomera, I. (2020). Year‐round energy dynamics of sardine and anchovy in the north‐western Mediterranean Sea. Marine Environmental Research, 159, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105021
    1. Association of Official Analytical Chemists ‐ AOAC. (1990). Official method of analysis (15th ed.). Association of Official Analytical Chemists.
    1. Baltasar, R. Q., Burge, E. J., & Crane, D. P. (2021). Effects of frozen storage on fish wet weight, percent dry weight, and length revisited. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 41(6), 1744–1751. https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10691

LinkOut - more resources