Summary
Driven by environmental constraints such as stable low water temperature and pelagic food seasonality, Antarctic fishes evolved different early life history strategies in terms of timing and size at hatching, early growth rates and duration of pelagic phase. Our proposal hypothesize that i) at interspecific scale, Antarctic fish species with similar reproductive strategies will display similar early life history traits (ELHT), and ii) at intraspecific scale, spatial variations of environmental forcing, such as sea temperature, wind stress, and food availability will impact significantly on larval growth performance and early survival. To study the responses of ELHT, otolith microstructure, trophic selectivity and ontogenetic allometry of Antarctic fish larvae will be used as proxies, which will be related with environmental conditions in coastal waters off the Antarctic Peninsula.

Objectives
The main aim of the project is to compare early life history traits of Antarctic fishes with different spawning strategies, and its relationships with environmental conditions in three coastal areas of west Antarctica during summer. More specific aims are:
1. To determine the spatial and temporal variations in the meteorological (wind stress, atmospheric pressure) and oceanographic conditions (sea level, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, fluorescence, pH and currents) in coastal waters of Fildes Bay, off Doumer island and Antarctic Peninsula, during summer.
2. To estimate intra and interspecific shape and diet variations through early ontogeny of Antarctic fishes with contrasting reproductive strategies, as well as its spatial variability in west Antarctica during summer.
3. To analyse otolith shape and its microstructure to estimate early life history traits (growth, mortality, size-at-hatch) and its spatial variation at intra- and interspecific levels.
4. To determine physical-ecological interactions of early life stages of Antarctic fishes in coastal waters off west Antarctica.

Project Partners
• Universidad de Valparaiso (Valparaiso, Chile)