Demersal fish
Layer Demersal fish.png
Layer Info
Category Ecology
Sub-category Fish

Description

Demersal fish is a type of fish that is primarily inhabits the lower depths of a body of water, particularly the ocean floor. The term "demersal fish" does not refer to a specific species, but rather it describes a group or category of fish based on their shared habitat preference.

These fish are adapted to life near or on the seabed, and are commonly found in coastal areas, continental shelves, and deep-sea environments. These types of fish share features that make them well-suited for this habitat, such as flattened bodies, strong pectoral fins, and specialized feeding structures. This group of species includes various types of flatfish, cod, flounder, skates, and many more.

Small demersal fish

Example species: Grey gurnard

Habitat: Demersal
Main role: Predator
Trophic level: 4,5

Diet: Juveniles feed on a variety of crustaceans. The diet of older specimens consists mainly of juvenile fish.

Threats: Grey gurnards are of lesser commercial importance, and are mostly caught as bycatch for other flatfish.


Large demersal fish

Example species: Thornback ray

Habitat: Demersal
Main role: Predator
Trophic level: 3,8

Diet: This ray feeds on fish and invertebrates.

Threats: Of commercial interest and near threatened according to IUCN red list. The thornback ray is often caught as bycatch by trawl and gillnets.


Information

Types

  • Very Low Density
  • Low Density
  • Medium Density
  • High Density
  • Very High Density

Metadata

Data Source

Demersal fish is a month-by-month, computer generated data layer following calculations made by the ecosystem simulation (EwE). For more information on how Ecopath-with-Ecosim (EwE) works, please visit our Wiki page or visit the official EwE website at https://ecopath.org.

For detailed information on how the simulation works for the North Sea Edition, we recommend further exploring our research publication called "Combining ecosystem modeling with serious gaming in support of transboundary maritime spatial planning".

Not applicable. This layer is currently not integrated into the MSP Challenge Baltic Sea Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is currently not integrated into the MSP Challenge Clyde Marine Region Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is currently not integrated into the MSP Challenge Adriatic Sea Edition.

Not applicable. This layer is currently not integrated into the MSP Challenge Eastern Mediterranean Sea Edition.

This page was last edited on 4 October 2023, at 14:04. Content is available under GPLv3 unless otherwise noted.