A Dataset of Deep-Sea Fishes Surveyed by Research Vessels in the Waters around Taiwan

Kwang-Tsao Shao1, Jack Lin1, Hsin-Ming Yeh2

1 Biodiversity Research Center Academia Sinica, Taiwan, No. 128, Sec. 2, Academia Rd. Nankang, Taipei, TAIWAN, R.O.C., 115, Taipei, Chinese Taipei; 2 Coastal and Offshore Resources Research Center, Fisheries Research Institute, COA, Coastal and Offshore Resources Research Center, Fisheries Research Institute, COA, No.6, Yugang N. 3rd Rd., Qianzhen Dist., 806, Kaohsiung City, TAIWAN, 80672, Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei

Corresponding author(s): Kwang-Tsao Shao (zoskt@gate.sinica.edu.tw), Jack Lin (jacklin@gate.sinica.edu.tw)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Abstract

The study of deep-sea fish fauna, due to the difficulty and high cost incurred in its surveys and collections, is hampered by the lack of data. Taiwan is situated along the edge of the Eurasia plate, and is at the junction of three Large Marine Ecosystems or Ecoregions of the East China Sea, South China Sea and the Philippines. Since nearly two-thirds of Taiwan’s surrounding marine ecosystems are deep-sea environment, it is expected to hold a rich diversity of deep-sea fish. In the past, no research vessels had been employed to collect fish data on site. There were only specimens from Dasi and Donggang fishing harbors caught by bottom trawl fishing in the water hundreds of meters deep and missing precise locality information. Began in 2001, with the support of National Science Council, research vessels were made available to take on the task of systematically collecting deep-sea fish specimens and occurrence records in the waters surrounding Taiwan. By the end of 2006, a total of 3,653 specimens, belonging to 26 orders, 88 families, 198 genera and 366 species, were collected in addition to data such as sampling site geographical coordinates, water depth, and fish body length and weight. All the information are open and accessible from the “Database of Taiwan’s Deep-Sea Fauna and Its Distribution (http://deepsea.biodiv.tw/)” as part of the “Fish Database of Taiwan.” It should be beneficial to the study of the temporal and spatial changes of the distribution and abundance of fish fauna in the context of global deep-sea biodiversity.

Keywords: Deep-Sea Fish Fauna, Otter Trawl, Beam Trawl, IKMT, Catalog of Life, Barcode of Life, Encyclopedia of Life

Project details

Project title: Survey of Deep-Sea Fish Diversity by Research Vessels in Taiwan Waters
Personnel: Kwang-Tsao Shao
Funding: Ministry of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan)
Study area descriptions/descriptor: Taiwan is located on the eastern edge of Asian continental shelf. To the west of Taiwan is the shallow Taiwan Strait, to the northeast is the Okinawa Trough (maximum depth 2,716 m), to the east the complex and diverse Philippine Sea (with deep oceanic trenches), and to the south the South China Sea (maximum depth 5,016 m). These deep-water environments were where the surveys were carried out.
Design description: This study focused on Taiwan’s deep-sea fish fauna which so far hasn’t been investigated much, and hoped to learn if the fauna varies depending on sea area, current and water depth. The specimens caught all went through taxonomic identification and had their collection time, water depth and coordinates recorded. A geographic information system (GIS) on their distributions was established in order to provide references for future academic researches as well as for resource development, management and assessment. One or several specimens per fish species were selected to have their photos taken in color. Keeping to the Barcode of Life tissue preservation techniques, a small piece of tissue was then excised, preserved in 90-95% alcohol and stored at BRCAS in liquid nitrogen canisters. Backup tissue samples were also stored at Livestock Research Institute, COA so that in the future they can be used in the study of molecular biology and genetics. The voucher specimens and whole fish specimens were stored at BRCAS too. All the specimen information was entered into Taiwan Fish Database and is freely accessible to all.

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The coverage of this dataset includes Class Actinopterygii (3,496/3,653), Class Chondrichthyes (156/3,653) and Class Myxini (1/3,653). The top 10 orders are Gadiformes, Myctophiformes, Anguilliformes, Stomiiformes, Ophidiiformes, Pleuronectiformes, Argentiniformes, Perciformes, Beryciformes and Squaliformes. The top 10 families are Macrouridae, Myctophidae, Ophidiidae, Sternoptychidae, Cynoglossidae, Synaphobranchidae, Muraenesocidae, Gonostomatidae, Alepocephalidae and Neoscopelidae.
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii, Chondrichthyes, Myxini
Order: Albuliformes, Anguilliformes, Argentiniformes, Aulopiformes, Beryciformes,  Carcharhiniformes, Chimaeriformes, Gadiformes, Gasterosteiformes, Gonorhynchiformes, Lamniformes, Lophiiformes, Myctophiformes, Myliobatiformes, Myxiniformes, Ophidiiformes, Perciformes, Pleuronectiformes, Rajiformes, Saccopharyngiformes, Scorpaeniformes, Squaliformes, Stephanoberyciformes, Stomiiformes, Tetraodontiformes, Torpediniformes
Family: Acropomatidae, Alepocephalidae, Aphyonidae, Aploactinidae, Bathyclupeidae,  Bathylaconidae, Bothidae, Bramidae, Bregmacerotidae, Bythitidae, Callionymidae, Caristiidae, Centrophoridae, Cepolidae, ceratiidae, Champsodontidae, Chaunacidae, Chiasmodontidae, Chimaeridae, Chlorophthalmidae, Colocongridae, Congridae, Cottidae, Cynoglossidae, Dalatiidae, Diretmidae, Ereuniidae, Etmopteridae, Eurypharyngidae, Gempylidae, Gonorynchidae, Gonostomatidae, Halosauridae, Himantolophidae, Hoplichthyidae, Ipnopidae, Linophrynidae, Lophiidae, Macrouridae, Melamphaidae, Melanocetidae, Melanonidae, Microstomatidae, Moridae, Muraenesocidae, Muraenidae, Myctophidae, Myxinidae, Nemichthyidae, Neoscopelidae, Nettastomatidae, Nomeidae, Notacanthidae, Ogcocephalidae, Oneirodidae, Ophichthidae, Ophidiidae, Ostracoberycidae, Paralepididae, Paralichthyidae, Percichthyidae, Percophidae, Peristediidae, Phosichthyidae, Poecilopsettidae, Priacanthidae, Pseudocarchariidae, Rajidae, Rondeletiidae, Scopelarchidae, Scorpaenidae, Scyliorhinidae, Serrivomeridae, Sparidae, Squalidae, Sternoptychidae, Stomiidae, Synaphobranchidae, Syngnathidae, Synodontidae, Tetraodontidae, Torpedinidae, Trachichthyidae, Triacanthodidae, Trichiuridae, Triglidae, Urolophidae, Zoarcidae

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Seas around Taiwan.
Coordinates: 20°38'52.8''N and 25°23'2.4''N Latitude; 117°17'42''E and 123°0'43.2''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: May 20, 2001 - August 27, 2006

Methods

Method step description: Step1: Sampling locality and water depth were recorded.
Step2: Specimens were roughly classified and counted either right on board or when they reached the shore.
Step3: Specimens were shipped back to the lab for species identification, body length and weight measurement, and picture taking.
Step4: Afterward, specimens were fixed in 10% Neutral Buffered Formalin for one month. They were then cleaned with water and preserved in 70% alcohol.
Study extent description: The surveys were carried out from 2001 to 2006 in waters off northeastern Taiwan (Okinawa Trough), eastern Taiwan, southeastern Taiwan (Western Pacific) and southwestern Taiwan (South China Sea).
Sampling description: Research vessels used were the “R/V Fishery Researcher I,” “R/V Ocean Researcher I” and “R/V Ocean researcher III. The maximum depth sampled was 4,460 meters because of limited cable length. Major equipment used were otter trawl, French type beam trawl of 4 m span, ORE type beam trawl of 3 m span and Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl (IKMT). Once the nets reached sea bottoms, they were towed for one hour at a ground speed of 1.5-2.5 knot for otter trawls and 1.0-1.5 knot for others.
Quality control description: All the scientific names of fish samples were validated by the updated fish checklist in the “Fish Database of Taiwan” or TaiCOL (http://col.taibif.tw and formerly TaiBNET, http://taibnet.sinica.edu.tw) before they were entered into database. Afterward, they were validated again by matching against FishBase and Catalog of Fishes, California Academy of Sciences for further correction. If a specimen was rare or it might belong to an undescribed or new species, it was photographed in fresh and then the specimen and its tissue sample were both catalogued and deposited at the Biodiversity Research Museum of Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica (ASIZP of BRCAS). The latitude and longitude of trawling routes were plotted on Google Maps and outlier detection conducted.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive A Dataset of Deep-Sea Fishes Surveyed by Research Vessels in the Waters around Taiwan
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://ipt.pensoft.net/ipt/archive.do?r=deep-sea-fishes
Publication date of data: 2014-12-01
Language: English

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2014-08-26
Hierarchy level: Dataset