Life history strategy and impacts of environmental variability on early life stages of two marine fishes in the North Sea: an individual-based modelling approach

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Daewel ◽  
Myron A. Peck ◽  
Corinna Schrum
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Fish Survival

We employed a suite of coupled models to estimate the influence of environmental variability in the North Sea on early life stages of sprat ( Sprattus sprattus ), a small pelagic clupeid, and Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), a demersal gadoid. Environmentally driven changes in bottom-up processes were projected to impact the survival and growth of eggs and larvae of these marine fish species in markedly different ways. We utilized a spatially explicit, individual-based model (IBM) to estimate larval fish survival and a 3D ecosystem model (ECOSMO) to provide variable prey fields. The model was applied to each of 3 years (1990, 1992, 1996) specifically characterized by interannual differences in water temperature in late winter and spring. Our results indicated that an important mechanism connecting environmental factors to larval fish survival was the match–mismatch dynamics of first-feeding larvae and their prey, which was species-specific because of (i) differences in the timing and locations of spawning, (ii) the duration of endogenously feeding life stages, and (iii) prey thresholds required for larval survival. Differences in transport processes also played an important role for the potential survival of larvae of both species.

scholarly journals The consumption of zooplankton by early life stages of fish in the North Sea

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1650-1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Heath
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Zooplankton Consumption ◽  
Zooplankton Production ◽  
Fish Early Life Stages

Abstract Heath, M. R. 2007. The consumption of zooplankton by early life stages of fish in the North Sea. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1650–1663. Previous work has shown that during the 1970s, fish and carnivorous macrozooplankton together consumed ∼22 gC m−2 year−1 of mesozooplankton, principally copepods. Consumption declined to ∼17 gC m−2 year−1 during the 1990s, mainly because of a reduction in fish production. The zooplankton production required to meet this demand seems to be approximately accounted for by estimates of new primary production, but there are additional sinks for zooplankton production attributable to predation by, for example, gelatinous species. Additionally, the consumption of zooplankton by early life stages of fish is difficult to assess and could be larger than implied by the earlier analysis. Here, the role of fish early life stages in zooplankton consumption is re-assessed, and found to be approximately double that previously estimated. Some 28% of the zooplankton consumption by fish is now estimated to be attributable to early life stages, resulting in an estimate of zooplankton consumption by the fish community as a whole 14% higher. Taken overall, the consumption of zooplankton production by fish and other planktivorous predators is now estimated to be 19–25 gC m−2 year−1.

scholarly journals Modeled larval fish prey fields and growth rates help predict recruitment success of cod and anchovy in the North Sea

2018 ◽  
Vol 600 ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
KB Huebert ◽  
J Pätsch ◽  
M Hufnagl ◽  
M Kreus ◽  
MA Peck
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Recruitment Success ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Long-term variability in North Sea zooplankton off the Northumberland coast: productivity of small copepods and analysis of trophic interactions

1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Roff ◽  
Ken Middlebrook ◽  
Frank Evans
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Trophic Interactions ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Mean ◽  
June July

All groups of meso- and macro-zooplankton in the North Sea off Northumberland, at a depth of 53 m, were studied during a 15-year period (1969–83); copepod productivity was estimated from biomass and growth rates. Phytoplankton were seasonally bi-modal with peaks in April and August–October; copepods were uni-modal peaking in June–July. The predatory zooplankters: larval fish, decapods, ctenophores, medusae (the summer-autumn predators) peaked between May and September, while chaetognaths and euphausiids (the winter predators) peaked in December–January. Copepods and the summer-autumn predators were seasonally and inter-annually positively correlated, and declined in abundance from 1974 to 1980. Euphausiids and chaetognaths on the contrary increased in abundance during these years, and were seasonally and inter-annually negatively correlated to the copepods. The mean annual abundance of copepods was positively related to the previous winter's minimum, and inversely related to the abundance of chaetognaths and euphausiids. Annual copepod productivity averaged 1260 kJ m-2 year-1, and showed no relationship to other groups of plankton.

scholarly journals The early life history of fish—there is still a lot of work to do!

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard I. Browman ◽  
Anne Berit Skiftesvik
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fish Early Life Stages

Abstract The themed set of articles that follows this introduction contains a selection of the papers that were presented at the 36th Annual Larval Fish Conference (ALFC), convened in Osøyro, Norway, 2–6 July 2012. The conference was organized around four theme sessions, three of which are represented with articles in this collection: “Assessing the relative contribution of different sources of mortality in the early life stages of fishes”; “The contribution of mechanistic,behavioural, and physiological studies on fish larvae to ecosystem models”; “Effects of oil and natural gas surveys, extraction activity and spills on fish early life stages”. Looking back at the main themes of earlier conferences about the early life history of fish reveals that they were not very different from those of ALFC2012. Clearly, we still have a lot of work to do on these and other topics related to the biology and ecology of fish early life stages.

Evidence for geographical isolation of the early life stages of the white anglerfish, Lophius piscatorius, based on otolith microchemistry

2004 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Swan ◽  
P.J. Wright ◽  
D.A. Woodroffe ◽  
J.D.M. Gordon ◽  
T. Shimmield
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
Geographical Isolation ◽  
Genetic Structuring ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Population Structuring ◽  
Limited Exchange

Concentrations of elements in the sagittal otoliths of juvenile white anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius) from five locations in the north-east Atlantic were measured to test for evidence of segregation in the early life stages. The concentrations of some elements, notably copper, were different between locations. As such, the results suggest limited exchange between locations during some period of the early life history. The relevance of these results to our understanding of population structuring is discussed in relation to recent information on anglerfish movements and genetic structuring.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document