scholarly journals Individual variability in growth rate and the timing of metamorphosis in yellowtail flounder Pleuronectes ferrugineus

1999 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 231-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
HP Benoît ◽  
P Pepin
2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 856-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugues P Benoît ◽  
Pierre Pepin ◽  
Joseph A Brown

We present a summary of variability in age and length at metamorphosis for marine fishes. Data from the literature were partitioned into taxonomic, population, and individual levels of resolution to examine the factors affecting the timing of metamorphosis. Temperature appears to be a dominant influence on timing, likely due to its effect on growth rate. Interspecifically, length at metamorphosis correlated poorly with that at hatching but was significantly related to temperature. This pattern was inconsistent for population-level comparisons. Metamorphic age decreased exponentially with increasing temperature in interspecific and population-level comparisons but did not covary with length for either level of resolution. This suggests that age at metamorphosis largely reflects the time required to grow to a given metamorphic length. Within populations, the correlation between metamorphic age and length increases with growth rate, a reflection of variance in age and length. A strong exponential relationship between mean metamorphic age and length and their associated variability (SD) exists, with a slope greater than unity in both cases (i.e., variability increases relative to the mean). With these relationships, we can infer the manner in which individual variability in metamorphic traits is generated throughout ontogeny. These results are considered in light of recruitment variability in marine fishes.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Rice ◽  
Thomas J. Miller ◽  
Kenneth A. Rose ◽  
Larry B. Crowder ◽  
Elizabeth A. Marschall ◽  
...  

We used an individual-based Monte Carlo simulation model to explore how changes in the mean and variance of growth rates of individuals in a larval fish cohort interact with size-dependent predation to affect the number and characteristics of individual survivors. Small changes in initial cohort mean growth rate can change survival over the first 60 d of life 10-to 30-fold. But when variance in growth rate among individuals is high, survival can be substantially higher than expected from the initial mean cohort growth rate. Selection for faster-growing individuals becomes stronger with increasing variance and increasing predation rate. In some cases, > 80% of the survivors may come from the upper 25% of the initial growth rate distribution, and the mean growth rate of the survivors may exceed twice the initial mean growth rate. When individual growth rates change from day to day rather than remaining constant, the contribution of atypical individuals is accentuated even further. Counterintuitively, most of the selection for faster-growing individuals happens only after the majority of mortality has already taken place. These results suggest that interactions between individual variability and selective mortality may have important cohort-level implications for survival in fishes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 502-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep Alós ◽  
Miquel Palmer ◽  
Salvador Balle ◽  
Antoni Maria Grau ◽  
Beatriz Morales-Nin

Abstract Alós, J., Palmer, M., Balle, S., Grau, A. M., and Morales-Nin, B. 2010. Individual growth pattern and variability in Serranus scriba: a Bayesian analysis. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 502–512. Variability in growth patterns at an individual level in Serranus scriba is described using a Bayesian approach for a generalized von Bertalanffy growth model that accommodates one change in growth rate at a specific point during the lifespan. The approach enables individual growth curves to be inferred, even in a species with a relatively short lifespan and no commercial value, i.e. limited sample sizes available, but potentially endangered by recreational fishing. The change in growth rate may be the result of differing allocation of energy between reproductive and somatic activities at different ages. Overall, the approach presented provides adequate input for future implementation of population dynamics models that take into account individual variability, e.g. individual-based models, even for species for which limited data are available.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth T. Frank ◽  
John W. Loder ◽  
James E. Carscadden ◽  
William C Leggett ◽  
Christopher T. Taggart

Ichthyoplankton and hydrographic surveys of the southern Grand Bank in September of 1986, 1987, and 1988 revealed substantial correspondence between the areal distributions of larvae of three flatfish species and temperature below the thermocline. Depth-averaged densities of American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides) were negatively correlated with temperature whereas yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea) and witch flounder (Glyptocephalus cynoghssus) densities were positively correlated with temperature. In spite of large interannual differences in abundance, the larval distributions showed similar structure from year to year. Using estimates of larval age inferred from length frequency distributions and literature values for growth rate, in conjunction with moored current measurements, estimates of spawning times and locations were obtained for each species. These estimates were compared with historical information on the distribution of prespawning fish for each species to examine the hypothesis of passive larval drift. The results indicate that in most, but not all cases, the larval distributions and currents are consistent with passive larval drift for particular growth rates and vertical distributions. However, the observations are not adequate to rule out alternative mechanisms involving behaviour.


1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 1957-1964 ◽  
Author(s):  
DGJ Larsson ◽  
C C Mylonas ◽  
Y Zohar ◽  
L W Crim

Sustained delivery systems for a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH-A) were used for the first time in a cold-ocean teleost for inducing multiple ovulations. Intramuscular implants of 75-224 µg/kg GnRH-A ((D-Ala6,Pro9-NHEt)LHRH) were administered to female yellowtail flounder (Pleuronectes ferrugineus) either as a cholesterol pellet or as biodegradable microspheres. Females implanted with GnRH-A ovulated 3-4 weeks earlier than controls, producing multiple batches of high-quality eggs (average rates of fertilization 66-68% and hatching 55-60%); control fish eggs had significantly lower fertilization (39%) and hatching rates (25%). GnRH-A treatment doubled the egg production, synchronized the females, and shortened the interovulatory periods. The proportion of round, clear, and floating eggs lacking a perivitelline space before fertilization was an indicator of the fertilization (r2 = 0.60) and hatching (r2 = 0.56) success. Moreover, egg collections of less than 10 mL varied greatly in quality, whereas larger batches, generally promoted by GnRH-A, consisted of relatively high-quality eggs. GnRH-A treated fish had increased plasma levels of estradiol-17 beta 4 days after implantation. A model for prediction of the time between hormone treatment and first spawning (T; days) was developed using the initial follicle diameter (D; µm) as the only predictor (T = 365(D - 380)-0.82; r2 = 0.91).


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