Relationship between Juvenile Growth and the Onset of Sexual Maturity of Female North Sea Plaice, Pleuronectes platessa

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617-1631 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Rijnsdorp

The relationship between juvenile growth and the onset of sexual maturation of female North Sea plaice, Pleuronectes platessa, is explored on the individual and population level by analysing individual growth curves back-calculated from otoliths of immature and mature fish and by analysing maturity–length ogives of individual cohorts sampled between 1960 and 1990 from commercial landings from three areas in the North Sea. Back-calculated growth rate of females sampled as mature fish was higher than that of immature females up to 3 yr prior to sampling but lower in the last year. The probability of maturation was significantly related to the length reached as well as to the growth rate in previous years. Maturity–length relationships from market samples showed significant differences in slopes and intercepts between age groups, geographical areas, and year classes. Length at maturation (Lmat) decreased with age and increased with latitude. The differences in Lmat of individual year-classes corresponded to differences in the growth rate and temperature during early life. Both the evidence obtained from the individual and population analysis suggest a 2- to 3-yr maturation time. A model of the juvenile–adult transition process is proposed that provides a consistent interpretation of the observations.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Croll ◽  
André M. de Roos

Abstract Plasticity is the extent to which life history processes such as growth and reproduction depend on the environment. Plasticity in individual growth varies widely between taxa. Nonetheless, little is known about the effect of plasticity in individual growth on the ecological dynamics of populations. In this article we analyse a physiologically structured population model of a consumer population in which the individual growth rate can be varied between entirely plastic to entirely non-plastic. We derive this population level model from a dynamic energy budget model to ensure an accurate energetic coupling between ingestion, somatic maintenance, growth, and reproduction within an individual. We show that the consumer population is either limited by adult fecundity or juvenile survival up to maturation, depending on the level of growth plasticity and the non-plastic individual growth rate. Under these two regimes we also find two different types of population cycles which again arise due to fluctuation in respectively juvenile growth rate or adult fecundity. In the end our model not only provides insight into the effects of growth plasticity on population dynamics, but also provides a link between the dynamics found in age- and size-structured models.


2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
FC. Massaro ◽  
O. Rocha

Hydras, the most representative freshwater Cnidaria, are of common occurrence in bodies of water in every continent except Antarctica. This study was planned with the aim of maintaining a population of Hydra viridissima in laboratory culture to enable the determination of the individual and population growth-rates of this species, as well as its population doubling time and generation time, with a view to employing these common animals as test-organisms in ecotoxicological assays. The organisms were maintained in reconstituted water at 20 ± 2 °C, illuminated at 800 lux with a photoperiod of 12 hours light: 12 hours dark, and were fed on neonates of the cladoceran Ceriodaphnia silvestrii (3 or 4 neonates per hydra, 3 times a week). The individual growth-rate (k) of the species was 0.43, the maximum length of the column 2.53 mm and the generation time 6.6 ± 1.5 days on average. The hydra population showed an intrinsic growth-rate (r) of 0.0468, according to the fitted curve, and a doubling time of 14.8 ± 2.63 days. Hydra viridissima is easy to grow in the laboratory and performs well in the conditions used in this study. It is thus a promising candidate test-organism for ecotoxicological studies.


1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Wilson

Aural acoustic-immittance (admittance and impedance) measurements during the quiescent and reflexive states were made using a computer sampling technique on 18 subjects with normal hearing in each of two age groups (< 30 years and > 50 years). Seven pure-tones (250–6000 Hz) and broadband-noise stimuli served to elicit the acoustic reflex at sound-pressure levels from 84–116 dB (tones) and 66–116 dB (noise) in 2-dB steps during ascending and descending runs. The contralateral middle-ear activity, was monitored with a 220-Hz probe by digitizing the conductance and susceptance outputs of an acoustic-admittance meter. The computer corrected for the immittance characteristics of the ear-canal volume by utilizing measurements made at an ear-canal pressure of -350 daPa and then by converting the conductance and susceptance values into admittance and impedance units. The results are reported as the immittance change between the quiescent and reflexive states as a function of both the activator sound-pressure level and the activator-pressure level above the reflex threshold. There were no significant differences between the static-immittance values for the two groups, Although acoustic-reflex thresholds for the two groups were the same in the low- to mid-frequency region (250–2000 Hz), the reflex thresholds for the > 50-years group were elevated significantly ( 8 dB) for 4000 Hz, 6000 Hz, and noise activators. In all conditions, the magnitude of the acoustic reflex was substantially smaller for the > 50-years group as compared with the < 30-years group. The variability of the reflex magnitude was large for both groups of subjects. Saturation of the individual growth functions, which was frequency dependent, occurred twice as often with the > 50-years group as with the < 30-years group. The relationship between the magnitude changes in conductance and susceptance from the quiescent to the reflexive state was the same for the two groups. Finally, the magnitude differences among the reflex-growth data were not related to differences in static immittance.


2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 1012-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gangnery ◽  
C Bacher ◽  
D Buestel

The Thau lagoon (France) has been studied for many years because of its ecological interest related to economic activities: shellfish cultivation, tourism, and industry. The standing stock of cultivated filter feeders is around 20 000 t and consists of two main species, the Japanese oyster Crassostrea gigas and the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. To predict changes in the standing stock and the annual production, a mathematical model of the population dynamics was defined. It was based on the continuous equation of the density as a function of the mortality rate, the individual growth rate, and the interindividual variability. The daily growth rate was derived from field surveys and depended on the phytoplankton concentration and individual weight. The model also took into account the rearing strategy of the producers defined by the timetable of seeding and harvesting, obtained by an inquiry among the producers and used to simulate real cases of standing stock changes. The model was also used to assess the potential impact on the environment through the computation of the food consumption, which was compared with the residence time and the primary production.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0247630
Author(s):  
Einar Pétur Jónsson ◽  
Steven E. Campana ◽  
Jón Sólmundsson ◽  
Klara B. Jakobsdóttir ◽  
Hlynur Bárðarson

Otolith shape has previously been used to identify ecotypes within the Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua) stock, using DST profiles to validate the results. Fish otolith shape variation has repeatedly been found to be largely determined by growth rate. To examine the effect of growth rate on the relationship between otolith shape and cod ecotypes (using the Pan I genotype as a proxy for ecotype), 826 archived sagittal otoliths collected over a 58 year sampling period were retrieved, the individual growth rate calculated, and otolith shape described using both Normalized Elliptic Fourier transform and Discrete Wavelet transform. Discriminant functions of otolith shape successfully classified ecotype, whether using Fourier or Wavelet descriptors, but only when excluding a heterozygous genotype from the analysis. The otolith shape variability of this genotype lowered the classification success, while otolith shape, in turn, was significantly affected by growth rate and cohort. Growth rate differences previously reported for the ecotypes were present, but were less marked than expected and indeed, growth rate variance attributable to ecotype identity was dwarfed by cohort- and location-related variance in growth. Such a strong effect of growth rate suggests that cod ecotype discrimination based on otolith shape is sensitive to both temporal and spatial variations in growth, which can mask the effect of ecotype-related growth rate differences on otolith shape.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einar Pétur Jónsson ◽  
Steven E. Campana ◽  
Jón Sólmundsson ◽  
Klara B. Jakobsdóttir ◽  
Hlynur Bárðarson

AbstractOtolith shape has previously been used to identify ecotypes within the Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua) stock, using DST profiles to validate the results. Fish otolith shape variation has repeatedly been found to be largely determined by growth rate. To examine the effect of growth rate on the relationship between otolith shape and cod ecotypes (using the Pan I genotype as a proxy for ecotype), 826 archived sagittal otoliths collected over a 52 year sampling period were retrieved, the individual growth rate calculated, and otolith shape described using both Normalized Elliptic Fourier transform and Discrete Wavelet transform. Discriminant functions of otolith shape yielded high ecotype classification success, whether using Fourier or Wavelet descriptors, but only when excluding a heterozygous genotype from the analysis. The otolith shape variability of this genotype lowered the classification success, while otolith shape, in turn, was significantly affected by growth rate and cohort. Growth rate differences previously reported for the ecotypes were present, but were less marked than expected and indeed, growth rate variance attributable to ecotype identity was dwarfed by cohort- and location-related variance in growth. Such a strong effect of growth rate suggests that cod ecotype discrimination based on otolith shape is sensitive to both temporal and spatial variations in growth, which can mask the effect of ecotype-related growth rate differences on otolith shape.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (01) ◽  
pp. 151-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. BISWAS ◽  
S. K. DAS ◽  
S. ROY

In the present study, the individual growth process of an organism has been shown with the help of a mathematical model. The surplus energy production rate, i.e. intake rate minus metabolic cost, plays a crucial role in controlling the growth rate. Considering the existence of an optimum mass, which maximizes the surplus energy, it has been found that the scaling exponent for the metabolic cost has to be greater than the exponent for the intake rate. On the basis of the consideration that the system always generates some surplus energy, a relationship among the empirical constants has been established. The growth is found to continue with an ever decreasing rate. When the system attains its optimum mass, the growth rate is found to be the maximum. The mass variation with time has been graphically shown using the expression obtained by solving a differential equation involving surplus energy. Using figures, the dependence of mass variation upon various scaling parameters, has been thoroughly discussed. As mass increases, the surplus energy production rate per unit mass is found to decrease and this may be the probable reason for the smaller number of organisms with larger mass. As the scaling exponent regarding intake increases, the maximum attainable mass increases along with an increase in the time required for its attainment.


1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger H. Green

A method is presented by which the individual growth rate and the population mortality rate can be estimated graphically in certain populations, given only knowledge of maximum individual size and of average size at two times of the year. The four graphs that are given may be used in several different ways, depending on the information available.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Szymon Smoliński ◽  
Julie Deplanque-Lasserre ◽  
Einar Hjörleifsson ◽  
Audrey J. Geffen ◽  
Jane A. Godiksen ◽  
...  

Abstract Otolith biochronologies combine growth records from individual fish to produce long-term growth sequences, which can help to disentangle individual from population-level responses to environmental variability. This study assessed individual thermal plasticity of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) growth in Icelandic waters based on measurements of otolith increments. We applied linear mixed-effects models and developed a century-long growth biochronology (1908–2014). We demonstrated interannual and cohort-specific changes in the growth of Icelandic cod over the last century which were mainly driven by temperature variation. Temperature had contrasting relationships with growth—positive for the fish during the youngest ages and negative during the oldest ages. We decomposed the effects of temperature on growth observed at the population level into within-individual effects and among‐individual effects and detected significant individual variation in the thermal plasticity of growth. Variance in the individual plasticity differed across cohorts and may be related to the mean environmental conditions experienced by the group. Our results underscore the complexity of the relationships between climatic conditions and the growth of fish at both the population and individual level, and highlight the need to distinguish between average population responses and growth plasticity of the individuals for accurate growth predictions.


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