From polar night to midnight sun: photoperiod, seal predation, and the diel vertical migrations of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) under landfast ice in the Arctic Ocean |
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Authors: | Delphine Benoit Yvan Simard Jacques Gagné Maxime Geoffroy Louis Fortier |
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Institution: | 1. Québec-Ocean, Department of Biology, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada 2. Institut des Sciences de la Mer, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310 allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, QC, G5L 3A1, Canada 3. Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 850 route de la Mer, C.P. 1000, Mont-Joli, QC, G5H 3Z4, Canada
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Abstract: | The winter/spring vertical distributions of polar cod, copepods, and ringed seal were monitored at a 230-m station in ice-covered
Franklin Bay. In daytime, polar cod of all sizes (7–95 g) formed a dense aggregation in the deep inverse thermocline (160–230 m,
−1.0 to 0°C). From December (polar night) to April (18-h daylight), small polar cod <25 g migrated into the isothermal cold
intermediate layer (90–150 m, −1.4°C) at night to avoid visual predation by shallow-diving immature seals. By contrast, large
polar cod (25–95 g), with large livers, remained below 180 m at all times, presumably to minimize predation by deep-diving
mature seals. The diel vertical migration (DVM) of small polar cod was precisely synchronized with the light/dark cycle and
its duration tracked the seasonal lengthening of the photoperiod. The DVM stopped in May coincident with the midnight sun
and increased schooling and feeding. We propose that foraging interference and a limited prey supply in the deep aggregation
drove the upward re-distribution of small polar cod at night. The bioluminescent copepod Metridia longa could have provided the light needed by polar cod to feed on copepods in the deep aphotic layers. |
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