Chromosomal inversions in the Atlantic cod genome: Implications for management of Canada’s Northern cod stock

2019 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Neils Puncher ◽  
Sherrylynn Rowe ◽  
George A. Rose ◽  
Nathalie M. Leblanc ◽  
Geneviève J. Parent ◽  
...  
1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2588-2595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Valerio ◽  
Sally V. Goddard ◽  
Ming H. Kao ◽  
Garth L. Fletcher

Freeze resistance of eggs and larvae of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from the northern cod stock was investigated to determine whether ice contact could affect survival during the spring spawning season off Newfoundland. Egg and larval homogenates did not appear to contain antifreeze proteins (mean freezing points −0.78 and −0.88 °C, respectively). However, cod eggs did not freeze at −1.8 °C in icy aerated seawater, could be undercooled to −4.0 °C in ice, and froze at temperatures between −4.1 and −1 7 °C; freeze resistance depended on the integrity of the chorion. Larvae withstood undercooling to −1.8 °C, provided they were not brought into direct contact with ice crystals, if directly touched with ice, larvae froze at −1.36 °C (feeding stage) or −1.34 °C (yolk-sac), approximately 0.5 °C lower than would be expected from the freezing temperatures of their body fluids. The nature of their external epithelium and delayed development of sensitive gill structures below 0 °C may contribute to larval freeze resistance. Cod eggs and larvae are found in spring off Newfoundland and Labrador, when sea temperatures can be as low as −1.8 °C and ice cover extensive. While cod eggs are remarkably freeze resistant, such environmental conditions may cause freezing mortalities in larval cod.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Rose

The hypothesis that annual catches of fixed gear fisheries are cross-correlated with stock biomass at lags predictable on the basis of the relative ages of fish comprising the catch and biomass was verified for the trapnet fisheries of the northeastern Newfoundland "northern" (NAFO 2J3KL) and northern "Gulf" of St. Lawrence (NAFO 3Pn4RS) Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks. Time series indices of stock biomass were derived from these cross-correlations. For northern cod, the index was a 3-yr weighted and lagged moving average of catch. For the years 1972–81 (the first half of the available data) the trap index (Ti) was regressed on the stock biomass (Bi) determined by sequential population models (SPA) (Ti = 0.477Bi0.638, r = 0.99, P < 0.01). Biomass forecasts for 1982–90 derived from this function (inverted) were positively correlated with recent SPA-based estimates (r = 0.94, P < 0.02). For Gulf cod, the index was a 4-yr weighted and lagged moving average of catch. This index was regressed on SPA-determined biomass for the years 1974–81 (Ti = −3.19 + 0.0217Bi, r = 0.99; P < 0.01). Biomass forecasts for 1982–90 were positively correlated with (but lower than) SPA-based biomass estimates for the Gulf stock (r = 0.91, P < 0.05).


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2302-2312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Neville ◽  
George Rose ◽  
Sherrylynn Rowe ◽  
Robyn Jamieson ◽  
Glenn Piercey

Stable oxygen isotope assays of otoliths (δ18Ooto) from migrant Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758) that overwintered in Smith Sound, Newfoundland, during 1995–2006 differed from those of nonmigrating summer residents and cod from Placentia Bay and Halibut Channel but did not differ from those of cod from the adjacent offshore Bonavista Corridor in summer. All fish sampled were of the 1990 year class (founder of the Smith Sound aggregation) at ages 8–10 years. Hence, overwintering Smith Sound and summering Bonavista Corridor cod likely experienced similar temperatures and salinities in each year of life, representing different migration stages of an intermixed group. Moreover, predictions of δ18Ooto from near-bottom ocean temperatures and salinities differed between inshore and offshore sites and, in general, matched observed signatures of inshore and offshore cod. The Bonavista Corridor cod, however, were an exception, having δ18Ooto signatures suggestive of inshore exposure. Our findings provide direct evidence of metapopulation structure in the Northern cod and are consistent with offshore rebuilding having been spurred by dispersal of cod from inshore Smith Sound.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 784-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell R. J. Mullowney ◽  
George A. Rose

Abstract The slow recovery of the “northern” Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stock off Newfoundland and Labrador has been ascribed to many factors. One hypothesis is poor feeding and condition as a consequence of a decline in capelin (Mallotus villosus), their former main prey. We compared the growth and condition of cod from known inshore (Smith Sound) and offshore (Bonavista Corridor) centres of rebuilding in wild subjects versus captive subjects fed an unlimited diet of oily rich fish. Wild fish in these areas have had different diets and population performance trends since stock declines in the early 1990s. Captive cod from both areas grew at the same rates and achieved equivalent prime condition, while their wild counterparts differed, with smaller sizes, lower condition in small fish, and elevated mortality levels in the offshore centre. Environmental temperature conditions did not account for the differences in performance of wild fish. Our results suggest that fish growth and condition, and hence rebuilding in the formerly large offshore spawning components of the northern cod, have been limited by a lack of capelin in their diet. Furthermore, we suggest that these groups are unlikely to rebuild until a recovery in capelin occurs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Matschiner ◽  
Julia Maria Isis Barth ◽  
Ole Kristian Torresen ◽  
Bastiaan Star ◽  
Helle Tessand Baalsrud ◽  
...  

Supergenes are sets of genes that are inherited as a single marker and encode complex phenotypes through their joint action. They are identified in an increasing number of organisms, yet their origins and evolution remain enigmatic. In Atlantic cod, four large supergenes have been identified and linked to migratory lifestyle and environmental adaptations. Here, we investigate the origin and fate of these four supergenes through analysis of whole-genome-sequencing data, including a new long-read-based genome assembly for a non-migratory Atlantic cod individual. We corroborate that chromosomal inversions underlie all four supergenes, and show that they originated separately, between 0.40 and 1.66 million years ago. While introgression was not involved in the origin of the four supergenes, we reveal gene flow between inverted and noninverted supergene haplotypes, occurring both through gene conversion and double crossover. Moreover, the presence of genes linked to salinity adaptations in a sequence transferred through double crossover indicates that these sequences exchanged between the haplotypes are subject to selection. Our results suggest that the fate of supergenes is comparable to that of hybridizing species, by depending on the degree to which separation is maintained through purging of introduced genetic variation.


1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Wroblewski ◽  
Wade L. Bailey ◽  
Kristine A. Howse

In the Random Island region of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, individual adult Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) with surgically implanted sonic transmitters were repeatedly relocated during the winter of 1990–91. Cod remained near shore, where seawater temperatures were as low as −1.5 °C. These fish did not move in the fall to offshore continental shelf waters as do most northern cod, nor did they move into the deeper waters of Trinity Bay that were slightly warmer than those in the nearshore zone. Of 12 cod released with transmitters in the fall and early winter, two were caught by local inshore fishermen the following spring, providing evidence that adult cod that overwinter nearshore become available to the spring inshore fishery. Another three were caught within a year of release. One fish was hooked in Fortune Bay on the southern coast of Newfoundland, having traveled a minimum distance of 305 nautical miles. These results demonstrate that northern cod can survive the surgical implantation of transmitters for at least a year and that this method is a valid technique for studying the behavior of northern cod. The main limitation to our sonic tracking was the relatively short range of signal reception (<1 nautical mile).


1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1274-1285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ransom A. Myers ◽  
Noel G. Cadigan

The collapse of the northern Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) fishery off southern Labrador and to the northern Grand Bank of Newfoundland, once the largest cod fishery in the world, was a social and economic disaster for the region. An analysis of traditional catch-at-age data in conjunction with research surveys, which assumed that research survey estimation errors of abundance by age and year were independent, led assessment biologists to the conclusion that the collapse was caused by an increase in natural mortality in the first half of 1991. We constructed a statistical model to test this hypothesis. The results do not support the hypothesis. There is ambiguous evidence that natural mortality has increased since 1991; however, these results are found only in a model that has extraordinary patterns in the residuals. Our analysis suggests that even if natural mortality has been higher in recent years (as estimated using a model with correlated errors for research surveys), overfishing was sufficiently high to cause a collapse of this population. We also demonstrate that the usual assumption that estimation errors from research trawl surveys are independent is not valid, and can lead to invalid inference and unreasonable estimates of abundance.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 2729-2741 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. deYoung ◽  
G. A. Rose

The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) populations located off Labrador and Northeastern Newfoundland (NAFO areas 2G–3L) have recently declined to the lowest levels of abundance on record. These "northern" cod have historically comprised several geographically recognizable populations with independent migratory life cycles on the shelf from the Grand Banks to Labrador. A reappraisal of past and recent work suggests that fundamental changes have taken place in the population dynamics of these cod during the past several decades. We focus on two key elements: distribution and recruitment. Distributions have become more southerly and recruitment failures prevail. We argue that these features are related and that northerly spawning and warm ocean conditions are prerequisites for strong recruitment. Cold ocean temperatures are associated with southerly distributions and poor recruitment. We propose the "right site" hypothesis, that egg and larval retention and survival are spatially dependent and that in cold years, spawning tends to occur at southerly locations where larval retention will be poor. We make several testable predictions: regeneration of the northern populations will occur slowly at time scales of decades, regeneration of southern populations will occur more quickly given warming conditions, and the 1991–93 year classes will be poor because of southerly distributions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Joanne Morgan ◽  
John Brattey

Abstract Variation in maturity-at-age, sex ratio, and potential egg production (through changes in length at age) were examined for northern cod (NAFO Division 2J + 3KL), southern Grand Bank cod (3NO), and southern Newfoundland cod (3Ps). All showed significant interannual variability in each stock. Estimates of reproductive potential were produced by sequentially incorporating estimates of proportion mature at age, sex ratio at age, and potential egg production. The estimates of reproductive potential produced by each method were broadly similar, but there were important differences. This leads to differing perceptions of stock productivity, as measured by relative rate of recruitment of a stock and in the spawning stock produced per recruit. These differing perceptions can have a major impact on expectations for the recovery of depleted stocks and the sustainability of various levels of fishing. Efforts should be made to improve estimates of reproductive potential by further exploring the impacts of changes in the spawning characteristics of populations, and by collecting such basic information as fecundity data.


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