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<p>Mesopelagic fishes serve as pivotal energy channels in Southern Ocean food webs, acting both as zooplankton predators and critical prey for higher trophic levels. Despite their ecological significance, their three-dimensional distribution dynamics remain inadequately understood due to the difficulties of persistent sampling challenges. During a 26-day expedition in the Cosmonaut Sea (austral summer 2021), we conducted multifrequency acoustic surveys and midwater trawl sampling to investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of four key fish species. Our analysis revealed a quantified resource density of 1.18 ± 0.26&#xa0;g/m² in the epipelagic layer (0–200&#xa0;m). Besides, multifrequency acoustic classification resolved three distinct ecological assemblages: (1) zooplankton, (2) non-swimbladder fishes (e.g., large <i>Electrona antarctica</i>), and (3) swimbladder-bearing taxa (e.g., <i>Krefftichthys anderssoni</i>). Notably, vertical migration rhythms exhibited dual periodicities linked to lunar phase and solar altitude. Distributions deepened during full moon but showed nonlinear relationships with lunar illumination. Even during the midnight sun, highly plastic and asynchronous diel vertical migration patterns emerged, with depth distributions showing taxon-specific and lunar-modulated deviations from simple linear correlations with solar altitude. This work advances our understanding of the ecology of mesopelagic fishes in extreme photic environments.</p>

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Multifrequency acoustics reveal epipelagic fish distribution pattern and lunar modulated vertical migration during the midnight sun in the Cosmonaut Sea

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月28日

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  • Lingyun Nie,
  • Jianchao Li,
  • Yang Liu,
  • Peng Sun,
  • Zhenjiang Ye,
  • Yicheng Zhao,
  • Jianfeng He,
  • Shuyang Ma,
  • Wenchao Zhang,
  • Wei Shi,
  • Yongjun Tian

摘要

Mesopelagic fishes serve as pivotal energy channels in Southern Ocean food webs, acting both as zooplankton predators and critical prey for higher trophic levels. Despite their ecological significance, their three-dimensional distribution dynamics remain inadequately understood due to the difficulties of persistent sampling challenges. During a 26-day expedition in the Cosmonaut Sea (austral summer 2021), we conducted multifrequency acoustic surveys and midwater trawl sampling to investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of four key fish species. Our analysis revealed a quantified resource density of 1.18 ± 0.26 g/m² in the epipelagic layer (0–200 m). Besides, multifrequency acoustic classification resolved three distinct ecological assemblages: (1) zooplankton, (2) non-swimbladder fishes (e.g., large Electrona antarctica), and (3) swimbladder-bearing taxa (e.g., Krefftichthys anderssoni). Notably, vertical migration rhythms exhibited dual periodicities linked to lunar phase and solar altitude. Distributions deepened during full moon but showed nonlinear relationships with lunar illumination. Even during the midnight sun, highly plastic and asynchronous diel vertical migration patterns emerged, with depth distributions showing taxon-specific and lunar-modulated deviations from simple linear correlations with solar altitude. This work advances our understanding of the ecology of mesopelagic fishes in extreme photic environments.