Migration and spawning behavior of the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili in eastern Taiwan

Abstract

Greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) is an important fishery resource with a circumglobal distribution from tropical to temperate waters. Here, we investigated the spawning migration and habitat utilization of S. dumerili in the East China Sea (ECS). Archival tags were attached to 22 adult fish to examine their horizontal and vertical movements and estimate the spawning ground. S. dumerili were captured and released in the coastal waters of eastern Taiwan on November of 2016 and 2017.Information from seven pop-up satellite archival tags and seven depth-temperature recorders was recovered. Almost all of the fish stayed in the Taiwanese exclusive economic zone. Most individuals moved from released site to the southern edge of the ECS and showed behavior associated with the topographic features in winter (November to December). These phenomena may be related to foraging and be driven by oceanographic features such as the seasonal monsoon and the Kuroshio.The fish then migrated to the south offshore area of Taiwan in January and February.During their southward migration, the fish experienced a slowly elevated water temperature regime (SETR), which is one of the environmental factors that induce final oocyte maturation. In the spawning season (February to April), tagged females exhibited continuous diel vertical movements (DVMs) after experiencing the SETR. These continuous DVMs were observed over a wide geographic range from north to south in the Kuroshio off eastern Taiwan. Our study demonstrated that the putative spawning ground of S. dumerili must extend further in a north-south direction than predicted in a previous study.

Variability in the Spatiotemporal Distribution Patterns of Greater Amberjack in Response to Environmental Factors in the Taiwan Strait Using Remote Sensing Data

“…Our findings noted that in the spring, the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of S. dumerili is higher in the southern part of the ECS, which has favorable oceanographic characteristics because of the Kuroshio Branch Current and Kuroshio Current [45]. Tone et al [46] reported that the S. dumerili spawning ground in February and March was located in the ECS. Our model predicted that in spring, catch rates would be high in the northern part of the TS, whereas in summer, these rates would increase further and the area with a high catch rate would extend toward the ECS.…”

“…This might be because of the availability of food and the preferred habitat-related oceanographic conditions conducive to development and survival. The mesozooplankton community in the Kuroshio region has comparable standing stock and productivity to those on the ECS shelf, indicating that sufficient food was available for the S. dumerili in this region and the warm water transported by the Kuroshio Current was optimal [46,60]. The distribution, migration, and availability of fish shoals are strongly linked to the oceanic fronts [52,61].…”

“…The Kuroshio Current is strongly associated with the transportation and distribution pattern of S. dumerili in the surrounding waters of Taiwan [13]. In addition, Tone et al [46] reported that in winter, the strong northeasterly wind blows continuously above the continental shelf of the ECS, cooling the water and enabling the S. dumerili to satisfy their energy needs for gamete growth and subsequent spawning activities. In Figure 8, we removed the spatial prediction of coastal waters of the mainland China region, because of the high discharge of nutrient-rich sediments water from the Yangtze River discharge through the Yellow Sea and the East Sea over the ECS, which leads to high plankton bloom [50,51], so the S. dumerili predominantly prefer to live over the SST frontal area.…”

“…SST was a highly significant factor for predicting suitable environmental conditions for the species. Although the conditions varied over time and space, they are crucial for understanding the habitat selection of S. dumerili in the eastern waters of Taiwan [46]. SST and SSS both have a substantial impact on the spatial and temporal distributions of marine fish [10,64].…”

Habitat changes and catch rate variability for greater amberjack in the Taiwan Strait: The effects of El Niño–southern oscillation events

“…To effectively develop strategies for managing this valuable fishery resource, information on the habitat preferences of and climate-related environmental effects on the fish is required. However, although fish habitat distribution and climate-related environmental effects have been reported to be essential factors affecting fish populations, the data available on the greater amberjack population in the waters of Taiwan are almost entirely based on assessments of age and growth (Hasegawa et al, 2017;Hasegawa et al, 2020), migration, and spawning (Tone et al, 2022).…”