Fish otoliths in superficial sediments of the Mediterranean Sea
Fish otoliths in superficial sediments of the Mediterranean Sea
Date
2016-12
Authors
Lin, Chien-Hsiang
Taviani, Marco
Angeletti, Lorenzo
Girone, Angela
Nolf, Dirk
Taviani, Marco
Angeletti, Lorenzo
Girone, Angela
Nolf, Dirk
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Keywords
Pleistocene
Recent sea bottom
Taphonomy
Taxonomy
Ecology
Biogeography
Recent sea bottom
Taphonomy
Taxonomy
Ecology
Biogeography
Abstract
Otoliths represent a significant biogenic carbonate component in marine sediments that may
provide valuable information for paleoenvironmental and biogeographic reconstructions. In
spite of their importance, relatively little is still known about the taxonomic composition,
abundance and early taphonomic characteristics of Recent otolith death-assemblages, which
would add to their value to interpret situations in the geological record. Here we present data
on the distribution of fish otoliths from bottom sediments collected in the central
Mediterranean Sea ranging in depth from 51 to 3300 m. The preservation of otoliths ranges
from fresh semi-translucent (white) specimens to dull-coloured (dark) ones, although whitish
specimens are predominant across all the samples. This diversity in lustre and colour and at times texture reflects the degree of early taphonomic processes undergone by these aragonitic
bodies post-mortem under submarine conditions, never being exposed to diagenetic processes
on-land. In general, a correlation with depth is observed, with best preservation observed in
otoliths sampled at depths < 500 m, while more degraded specimens occur deeper. In the
upper depth range (< 500m), a substantial number of benthic and benthopelagic taxa is
counted with respect to mesopelagic taxa, which prevail from 500 down to 3300 m. The
taxonomic composition and relative abundance of each taxon of otolith death-assemblages at
various depths conform well to the distribution of related Mediterranean modern fish
communities. The occurrence of pre-modern subfossil taxa in the death-assemblages is
evidenced at some bathyal sites by the overwhelming presence of many highly-degraded
(worn, chalky, opaque and patinated) otoliths and locally extinct species. This is the case of
Protomyctophum arcticum, a mesopelagic myctophid absent in the modern Mediterranean
basin that represents an Atlantic Pleistocene ‘cold guest’ fish in the Pleistocene of this basin.
Description
© The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 471 (2017): 134-143, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.050.