title: Seasonal variations in vertical migration of glacier lanternfish,Benthosema glaciale.
abstract: The seasonal variations in glacier lanternfish (Benthosema glaciale) vertical distribution and diel vertical migration (DVM) were studied by use of a bottom-mounted upward-facing 38 kHz echo sounder deployed at 392 m depth and cabled to shore in Masfjorden (~60°52'N, ~5°24'E), Norway. Acoustic data from July 2007-October 2008 were analyzed, and scattering layers below ~220 m during daytime were attributed to glacier lanternfish based on net sampling in this, and previous studies, as well as from analysis of the acoustic data. At these depths, three different diel behavioral strategies were apparent: normal diel vertical migration (NDVM), inverse DVM (IDVM), and no DVM (NoDVM). NoDVM was present all year, while IDVM was present in autumn and winter, and NDVM was present during spring and summer. The seasonal differences in DVM behavior seem to correlate with previously established seasonal distribution of prey. We hypothesize that in regions with seasonally migrating zooplankton, such as where calanoid copepods overwinter at depth, similar plasticity in DVM behavior might occur in other populations of lanternfishes.
authors.affiliation: Red Sea Research Center, 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Eivind
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dypvik
authors.affiliation: Red Sea Research Center, 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Røstad
authors.affiliation: Red Sea Research Center, 4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900 Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Stein
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaartvedt