North Atlantic oscillation affects the physical condition of migrating bullet tuna Auxis rochei (Risso, 1810) from the Western Mediterranean Sea
Authors
Muñoz, D.; Macías-López, A.D. (Ángel David); Ortiz-de-Urbina-Gutiérrez, J.M. (José María); García-Barcelona, S. (Salvador); Gomera, M.J; Báez, J.C. (José Carlos)Date
2017Type
articleKeywords
Atmospheric oscillationPhysical condition
Fisheries
Mediterranean sea
Bullet tuna
Abstract
Climate oscillations exert direct control over the environment in which they occur and may influence the
physical condition of migratory marine species, such as tuna, as reported by several authors. The main aim of
thisstudywastoexploretheassociationbetweenthepotentialeffectsoftheNorthAtlanticOscillation(NAO)on
thefitness condition of bullet tuna (Auxis rochei) migrating to the Spanish Mediterranean Sea. A total of 2357
length-weight pairs of data obtained from individuals collected on the Spanish Mediterranean coast were analysed.
A non-parametric Spearman test was used to investigate correlations between the atmospheric oscillation
indexes and two physical condition indexes. The results suggest that, in general, positive phases of the NAO
index improve the physical condition offish migrating to spawning grounds in the Mediterranean Sea. These
results could be explained by changes in the dominant winds, which could favour pre-spawning migration, and
by nutrients availability, which ...
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