Brotula clarkae
Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck".
Brotula clarkae[edit]
Description[edit]
Brotula clarkea are a species of fish that are also known as the Pacific bearded brotula. [1] Very little is known about the biology and life history of this species. [2] They can be found throughout the Eastern Central Pacific from the Gulf of California to Peru. [1] Juvenile B. clarkea feed on shrimp and crab. However, as adults, they feed mostly on teleosts, stomatopods, echinoderms, and mollusks. [1] B. clarkea are covered in small cycloid scales. [1] Further, B. clarkea are a member of the family Ophidiiformes and can be differentiated from other California Ophidiiformes by the presence of six barbels on both their snout and chin. Other California Ophidiiformes lack the presence of barbels. [3] In addition, B. clarkea lack a specialized copulatory organs and are oviparous. [1]
Taxonomic Position[edit]
| Brotula clarkae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Ophidiiformes |
| Family: | Ophidiidae |
| Genus: | Brotula |
| Species: | B. clarkae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Brotula clarkae | |
The genus Brotula is associated with a subtropical and circumtropical marine distribution. [1] The family Ophidiidae consists of 51 valid genera and 280 valid species. [4] The sister order of the Ophidiiformes is the Gadiformesis order. Their relationship is one that dates back 20 M years. [1]
Distribution and Habitat[edit]
B. clarkea inhabit depths between 40 and 650 m. [1] As juveniles they are found on areas of reef and later, as adults, inhabit soft mud bottoms. [1]
B. clarkea are known to be from the Eastern Specific. Compared to other species within the genus Brotula, B. clarkea are known for higher, subtropical latitudes. [3] Between 1960 to 2005 this area is noted to experience fluctuating periods of cold and warm. During the 1960s and 1970s and continuing until 1981, the climate of the eastern North Pacific was cold during the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) cold regime. From 1982 to 1985 a PDO warm regime was experienced which included the El Niño from 1982 to 1989. This period was followed by the cool La Niña of 1988 to 1989. This period was followed by the warmest period of the century which was the warm regime period which occurred from 1990 to 1998. Finally, from 1999 to at least 2005 their was a warm period. [3] During the warm El Niño period from 1997-1998 or perhaps the warm regime of the early 1990s there was a dispersal of B. clarkea from Baja California Sur to southern California which likely occurred through larval drift and transport. Additionally, following the El Niño a high number of Tropical Pacific species were reported for the first time within California. During this time the geographic range of B. clarkae extended from Palos Verdes, California to Paita, Peru. [3]
Conservation[edit]
On the Pacific coast of Latin America shrimp fishing has been very important commercially. However, recently, the number of shrimp has declined. Therefore, commercial fishers have shifted towards teleost species such as B. clarkea. [2] In order to maintain this species it is important to research the size of B. clarkae at sexual maturity within different regions. This is important because size at maturity is an important population parameter and may vary in different regions. This information will be used to develop regulations for size restrictions, catch quotas, and size selectivity for fishing equipment within commercial B. clarkea species fishing. [2]
A study was performed in which B. clarkea were collected between March of 2011 to July of 2012. Sex maturity was assessed based on macroscopic observations of the reproductive system of the B. clarkea collected. [2] Collection of the 348 B. clarkea was attained from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica . The findings from the study found an increase in B. clarkae size compared to previous reports. It is understood that prolonged periods of exploitation can cause a change in size of different marine species. [2] Therefore, the increase in size was attributed to a changes in genetic response due to fishing pressures. Although fishing for B. clarkea has only recently become a valuable resource in Costa Rica, in Columbia populations of B. clarkea have been exploited for roughly 20 years. At lower population levels the abundance of resources for B. clarkae is greater which allows them to grow larger. [2] In addition, although B. clarkae tend to inhabit deep water, reproductive aggregations tend to occur in shallow waters where they are then commercially exploited. Undeniably, these pressures effect how genetics are passed on to further generations and thus alter the population as a whole. [2]
References[edit]
This article "Brotula clarkae" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Brotula clarkae. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Nielsen, Jørgen G.; Cohen, D; Markle, D; Robins, C (1999). "Ophidiiform fishes of the world (order Ophidiiformes) : an annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date". 128 (18): 178.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Herrera, Marcela; Clarke, Tayler; Naranjo-Elizondo, Beatriz; Espinoza, Mario; Wehrtmann, Ingo (July 2016). "Size at maturity of the Pacific bearded brotula (Ophidiidae: Brotula clarkae): a commercially exploited species in the Pacific of Costa Rica". Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research. 44 (3): 657–661. doi:10.3856/vol44-issue3-fulltext-25.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lea, Robert; Allen, M; Power, William (2009). "Records of the Pacific Bearded Brotula, Brotula clarkae, from Southern California". Southern California Academy of Sciences. 108 (3): 163–167.
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William; Fong, Jon. "Genera/Species By Family/Subfamily in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes". California Academy of Sciences. Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
