The Gill‐Oxygen Limitation Theory and size at maturity/maximum size relationships for salmonid populations occupying flowing waters

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A. Meyer ◽  
Daniel J. Schill
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
UPALI S. AMARASINGHE ◽  
DANIEL PAULY

Fish generally mature at a smaller fraction of their maximum sizes than birds and mammals. The farmed tilapia (Family Cichlidae) can tolerate adverse conditions that result in stunting and which also cause the fish to spawn at small size. Such spawning at small size (or ‘early spawning’) is usually perceived as a unique feature of tilapia. The mechanism that explains how stressful environmental conditions tend to reduce the maximum size that fish can reach is very general and should apply to all fish. However, not all fish species are equally hardy, and most fish do not survive in the stunted or dwarf form under stressful environmental conditions. Tilapia, and other cichlids, on the other hand, can handle stressful conditions, if by remaining stunted. The present study shows that tilapia and other cichlids do not spawn ‘earlier’ than other teleosts. Rather, they are exceptionally tolerant of stressful environmental conditions, but with elevated metabolism. By reducing their growth and the maximum size they can reach ‘stunting’, they also reduce the sizes at which their maturity is initiated (‘early spawning’). This corroborates the gill-oxygen limitation theory (GOLT), which identifies spawning as an event rather than a determinant of fish growth.


1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 693 ◽  
Author(s):  
SH Abdel-Aziz

The reproductive biology and diets of Torpedo torpedo and T. marmorata from Egyptian Mediterranean waters are described. Males and females reached a maximum size of 39.1 and 40.8 cm total length (TL), respectively, in T. torpedo and 38.6 and 61.2 cm TL, respectively, in T. marmorata. The size at maturity of males of T. torpedo and T. marmorata is 18 and 25.5 cm TL, respectively, and of females, is 22 and 35.5 cm TL, respectively. Both species exhibit aplacental viviparity. T. torpedo has a restricted breeding season, and individual females appear to breed annually, whereas T. marmorata females appear to have a more extended reproductive cycle (probably breeding every two years). In both species, males are capable of mating every year. In T. torpedo, mating occurs between December and February, ovulation in March-April, and parturition in late August and September after five to six months of gestation. Individuals of T. marmorata mate between November and January, ovulate between December and February, and give birth the following December after 10-12 months of gestation. Mean embryos sizes are 7.3 cm TL (range 4.6-8.2 cm TL) for T. torpedo and 8.5 cm TL (range 5.8-10.1 cm TL) for T. marmorata. Observations in Egyptian Mediterranean waters show a strong correlation between ovarian and uterine fecundity and the length of the mother in both species. Fish are an important component of the diet of the two species, as, to a lesser extent, are crustaceans for T. torpedo and cephalopods for T. marmorata. Juveniles eat a wide variety of food items, whereas adults feed only on fish.


1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 2363-2369 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Shirose ◽  
R. J. Brooks ◽  
J. R. Barta ◽  
S. S. Desser

A population of bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, was studied from May 1985 through October 1987. Of 1187 individuals marked with tattoos, 567 were recaptured at least once. The age of each marked individual was estimated using size–frequency distributions. A negative relationship between age and sex ratio indicated lower survivorship for mature males than for mature females. The average age at maturity was estimated to be 5 years post-transformation (YPT), at 113 mm standard length (snout to urostyle) for females, and 3 YPT, at 91 mm, for males. The minimum age at maturity was 4 YPT, at 94 mm standard length, for females, and 3 YPT, at 90 mm, for males. Age at maturity was greater, and size at maturity smaller, than reported for other populations. A logistic growth model fitted to the data, and comparison of age-specific mean standard lengths, indicate an intersexual difference in the pattern of growth. The asymptotic maximum standard length, as derived from the logistic model, was 181 mm for females and 148 mm for males. The estimated growth constant, r, was greater for males than for females, indicating that males attained their maximum size at a younger age than did females.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia L. Ruocco ◽  
Luis O. Lucifora ◽  
Juan M. Díaz de Astarloa ◽  
Otto Wöhler

AbstractSize at maturity, sexual dimorphism, gonad development, and abundance of white-dotted skate, Bathyraja albomaculata, were assessed along its geographic range in the Southwest Atlantic, from Uruguay to Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). In all, 291 specimens from eight research cruises conducted between 1998 and 2003 were examined. Length–mass relationships were sexually dimorphic, adult females being significantly heavier than males of the same length. The largest female observed was 762 mm total length (LT), and 50% maturity (LT50) was attained at 653 mm LT. The largest male was 732 mm LT, and male LT50 was 628 mm LT. Female and male LT50 were not significantly different and were about 86% of observed maximum size, similar to other Bathyraja species. The lack of sexual dimorphism in size at maturity and the slight difference in maximum size between sexes support the hypothesis of relaxation of selection for large female size in oviparous elasmobranchs. Liver size was not sexually dimorphic. Mature female gonads were symmetrical in terms of mass, and similar in ovarian follicle number and size. Females carried egg cases in April, September, and October, consistent with previous observations around the Islas Malvinas and suggesting year-round egg laying. Bathyraja albomaculata was most abundant on the outer continental shelf and slope between 36°30′S and 45°S (northern area). In contrast, it was generally absent between 48°S and 52°S (southern area), a region where it was formerly reported as abundant. These differences are coincident with the development of a fishery targeting skates in the southern area, whereas in the north B. albomaculata taken as bycatch are mostly discarded alive.


1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (04) ◽  
pp. 425-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Stockmans ◽  
H Deckmyn ◽  
J Gruwez ◽  
J Vermylen ◽  
R Acland

SummaryA new in vivo method to study the size and dynamics of a growing mural thrombus was set up in the rat femoral vein. The method uses a standardized crush injury to induce a thrombus, and a newly developed transilluminator combined with digital analysis of video recordings. Thrombi in this model formed rapidly, reaching a maximum size 391 ± 35 sec following injury, after which they degraded with a half-life of 197 ± 31 sec. Histological examination indicated that the thrombi consisted mainly of platelets. The quantitative nature of the transillumination technique was demonstrated by simultaneous measurement of the incorporation of 111In labeled platelets into the thrombus. Thrombus formation, studied at 30 min interval in both femoral veins, showed satisfactory reproducibility overall and within a given animalWith this method we were able to induce a thrombus using a clinically relevant injury and to monitor continuously and reproducibly the kinetics of thrombus formation in a vessel of clinically and surgically relevant size


2020 ◽  
Vol 646 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
RE Scheibling ◽  
R Black

Population dynamics and life history traits of the ‘giant’ limpet Scutellastra laticostata on intertidal limestone platforms at Rottnest Island, Western Australia, were recorded by interannual (January/February) monitoring of limpet density and size structure, and relocation of marked individuals, at 3 locations over periods of 13-16 yr between 1993 and 2020. Limpet densities ranged from 4 to 9 ind. m-2 on wave-swept seaward margins of platforms at 2 locations and on a rocky notch at the landward margin of the platform at a third. Juvenile recruits (25-55 mm shell length) were present each year, usually at low densities (<1 m-2), but localized pulses of recruitment occurred in some years. Annual survival rates of marked limpets varied among sites and cohorts, ranging from 0.42 yr-1 at the notch to 0.79 and 0.87 yr-1 on the platforms. A mass mortality of limpets on the platforms occurred in 2003, likely mediated by thermal stress during daytime low tides, coincident with high air temperatures and calm seas. Juveniles grew rapidly to adult size within 2 yr. Asymptotic size (L∞, von Bertalanffy growth model) ranged from 89 to 97 mm, and maximum size from 100 to 113 mm, on platforms. Growth rate and maximum size were lower on the notch. Our empirical observations and simulation models suggest that these populations are relatively stable on a decadal time scale. The frequency and magnitude of recruitment pulses and high rate of adult survival provide considerable inertia, enabling persistence of these populations in the face of sporadic climatic extremes.


1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 255-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Gschlößl

UV-irradiation as an effective method of diminishing germs in the outlet of wastewater treatment plants was studied in a half-scale pilot-project sponsored by the State of Bavaria/BRD for a period of 3 years. Technical, physical and biological parameters capable of influencing this process were examined. The possibility to improve the hygienic and also the ecological structure of receiving waters was put to discussion. Possible effects of formed bypproducts upon the water biocoenosis of rivers were pointed out. The results demonstrated that UV-irradiation can diminish the number of germs in the outlet of a treatment plant to an extent which is sufficient to guarantee the maintenance of the bacteriological and presumably also the virological values set by the EC Bathing Water Directive. Nevertheless the UV-treatment process requires further technological development and research work concerning i.e. the improvement of hydraulic conditions, coat-forming on the quartz sleeves of the lamps, photochemical forming of by-products, after-growth and effects upon the localised benthic flora and fauna of the receiving water. It has to be stressed that a significant improvement of the bacteriological structure of flowing waters is only attainable, if the influx from non-point sources can be reduced simultaneously.


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