Inferring Population Structure from Early Life Stage: The Case of the European Anchovy in the Sicilian and Maltese Shelves
, Marianna Musco 1, Tiziana Masullo 1, Francesco Placenti 3, Enza Maria Quinci 3, Francesca Falco 4, Carmelo Daniele Bennici 1, Marilena Di Natale 1, Vito Pipitone 1, Matteo Cammarata 5, Isabel Maneiro 3, Stefania Russo 1,* and Marco Torri 1Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Review for the paper "Inferring population structure from early life stage: the case of the European Anchovy in the Sicilian and Maltese Shelves" by Angela Cuttitta, Bernardo Patti, Marianna Musco, Tiziana Masullo, Francesco Placenti, Enza Maria Quinci, Francesca Falco, Carmelo Bennici, Marilena Di Natale, Vito Pipitone, Matteo Cammarata, Isabel Maneiro, Stefania Russo and Marco Torri submitted to "Water".
General comment.
The European Anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus is a small but very important economic resource for Mediterranean fisheries. This species plays a fundamental ecological role due to its intermediate position in the marine trophic web. This fish species has a major impact on the trophic dynamics through top-down control of zooplankton and/or bottom-up control of larger predators including fish, marine birds and marine mammals. Anchovy distribution along the Mediterranean coasts shows a set of independent stock units, a patchy distribution that points out the strong environmental control on spawning areas and rates, recruiting, and landing.
In particular, the Sicilian Channel Anchovy adapted its reproductive strategy to the surface circulation in the area. As the anchovy is a short-lived species, its spawning and egg transport have a large and rapid impact on the fishery. For this reason, knowledge of larval biology in relation to the spatial distribution is needed for fisheries management. The authors studied the larval morphology and biochemical content to reveal if there are differences among different sub-population occupying areas with different environmental and food conditions. The authors found two distinct groups of larval anchovy and suggested that these were closely related to spawning regions. The authors used standard methods for sampling and data processing. The main results are illustrated with relevant Figures and Tables. The discussion is focused on the main findings.
In Table 1, the letters "a, b, and c" should be formatted as superscripts.
The authors should update Figure 4A and Figures 5, 7, and 9 with superscript letters indicating significant differences among the areas studied.
L 278. The authors should indicate that points represent outliers. Each morphometric parameter should be specified as the authors did for Figure 7 (L. 313).
L 315. The authors should include a box plot for amino acid fractions as they did in other cases.
The discussion section should be divided into several paragraphs.
Specific remarks.
L 21. Consider replacing “resource in Sicilian Channel” to “resource in the Sicilian Channel”
L 27. Consider replacing “South of Sicily” to “the South of Sicily”
L 31. Consider replacing “higher protein content” to “a higher protein content”
L 32. Consider replacing “No differences in growth rate” to “No differences in the growth rate”
L 41. Consider replacing “resources in Mediterranean Sea” to “resources in the Mediterranean Sea”
L 42. Consider replacing “This means anchovy fishery” to “This means anchovy fisheries”
L 45. Consider replacing “As most pelagic” to “Like most pelagic”
L 47. Consider replacing “due to habitat constrains” to “due to habitat constraints”
L 49. Consider replacing “is sited offshore in the west of the Maltese Shelf and a third one is located in” to “is situated offshore in the west of the Maltese Shelf and a third one is located in the”
L 62. Consider replacing “suggested that distribution pattern of anchovy” to “suggested that the distribution pattern of anchovy”
L 98. Consider replacing “amino acid composition (AAC) of marine fish have been” to “the amino acid composition (AAC) of marine fish has been”
L 101. Consider replacing “in the Sicilian Channel also using AAC” to “in the Sicilian Channel using AAC”
L 126. Consider replacing “with mesh-size of 200” to “with a mesh size of 200”
L 139. Consider replacing “anal length (AL), the last one being” to “anal length (AL), the latter being”
L 140. Consider replacing “In order to analyze size frequencies” to “In order to analyze size-frequency distributions”
L 179. Consider replacing “performed by Regner (1985) and Rè (1999) [50, 51]” to “performed by Regner [50] and Rè [51]”
L 210. Consider replacing “oceanographic cruises carried out in same area of study” to “oceanographic cruises carried out in the same study area”
L 231. Consider replacing “an intermediate -temperature group” to “and an intermediate-temperature group”
L 236. Consider replacing “eddy in Maltese shelf” to “eddy on the Maltese shelf”
L 244. Consider deleting “In regards to larval, in Bansic 09 survey.”
L 248. Consider replacing “the summer 2009” to “summer 2009”
L 308. Consider deleting “Age-length plot.”
L 311. Figure 7. Consider replacing “Ovest” to “West” (twice).
L 345. Consider replacing “in carbohydrate content, 53.1% in lipid content and 72.4% in protein content.” to “in the carbohydrate content, 53.1% in the lipid content and 72.4% in the protein content.”
L 365. Consider replacing “the Sicilian Channel in 2009 survey” to “the Sicilian Channel during the 2009 survey”
L 392. Consider replacing “but age distribution confirms that” to “but the age distribution confirms that”
L 410. Consider replacing “highlight how they response” to “highlight how they respond”
L 416. Consider replacing “with this previous studies,” to “with this study,”
L 421. Consider replacing “homogeneity in growth rate” to “homogeneity in growth rates”
L 439. Consider replacing “higher larvae are more likely” to “larger larvae are more likely”
L 444. Consider replacing “that observed differences” to “who observed differences”
L 457. Consider replacing “among these two groups” to “between these two groups”
L 468. Consider replacing “present a lower TL-age relationship” to “present a weaker TL-age relationship”
L 470. Consider replacing “observation of significant positive correlation” to “observation of a significant positive correlation”
L 479. Consider replacing “In the case of total lipid” to “In the case of the total lipid”
L 496. Consider replacing “this study highlighted also the presence” to “this study highlighted also the presence of”
L 502. Consider replacing “In this context, this work represent” to “In this context, this work represents”
L 503. Consider replacing “from observations in field and shed” to “from observations in the field and sheds”
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors study the growth rate of the European Anchovy in the Sicilian and Maltese shelves. They conclude that no differences in the growth rate have been observed. It could be useful for the policymakers and implanting diverse regulatory option in the future.
Some issues:
- Please, specify the main objective of the manuscript. Maybe, in the Introduction section. This is also relevant for potential readers.
- Line 113 (and Discussion): The sample was carried out on 2009, more than ten years ago. The environmental conditions might have changed. Don’t you collect any additional samples for subsequent years?
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
