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Black JA, Neuheimer AB, Horn PL, Tracey DM, Drazen JC
Environmental, evolutionary, and ecological drivers of slow growth in deep-sea demersal teleosts
Deep-sea fishes have long been observed to live longer and grow more slowly than shallow-water fishes, with some species living up to ~150 years and reaching sexual maturity in their 20s. However, there remains significant and yet unexplained variation in fish growth rates across the depth continuum. This meta-analysis evaluates the environmental, evolutionary, and ecological factors that may influence growth rates across 53 species of bony fishes inhabiting depths from the shallows to the abyss. We find that growth rate is not entirely explained by temperature and depth of habitat, and may be a complex function of metabolism, activity level, and evolutionary pressures acting through “pace of life” adaptations.