Spatio-temporal variability in western Baltic cod early life stage survival mediated by egg buoyancy, hydrography and hydrodynamics

Abstract Hinrichsen, H-H., Hüssy, K., and Huwer, B. 2012. Spatio-temporal variability in western Baltic cod early life stage survival mediated by egg buoyancy, hydrography and hydrodynamics. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1744–1752. To disentangle the effects of different drivers on recruitment variability of marine fish, a spatially and temporally explicit understanding of both the spawning stock size and the early life stage dynamics is required. The objectives of this study are to assess the transport of western Baltic cod early life stages as well as the variability in environmentally-mediated survival along drift routes in relation to both spatial (within and between different spawning areas) and temporal (interannual and seasonal) dynamics. A spatially and temporally highly-resolved biophysical model of the Baltic Sea was used to describe mortalities and survival success of eggs and yolk-sac larvae—represented by individual, virtual drifters—as predicted proportions of drifters that either died due to bottom contact or lethal temperatures, or that survived up to the end of the yolk-sac larval stage. The environmental conditions allowing survival of cod and yolk-sac larvae indicate that favourable conditions predominately occurred during the late spawning season, while minimum survival rates could be expected from January to March. The spatial analysis of different spawning areas revealed highest survival chances in the Kattegat, intermediate survival in the Great Belt, and only low survival in the Sound, Kiel Bay and Mecklenburg Bay.

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Characteristics of juvenile survivors reveal spatio-temporal differences in early life stage survival of Baltic cod

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps10875 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 511 ◽

pp. 165-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

B Huwer ◽

HH Hinrichsen ◽

U Böttcher ◽

R Voss ◽

F Köster

Keyword(s):

Early Life ◽

Life Stage ◽

Early Life Stage ◽

Temporal Differences ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Baltic Cod

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Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea ◽

10.47886/9781888569087.ch5 ◽

1998 ◽

Keyword(s):

Baltic Sea ◽

Salmo Salar ◽

Early Life ◽

Life Stage ◽

Early Life Stage ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Yolk Sac ◽

The Mean ◽

The Baltic ◽

Related Mortality

Abstract.—Since 1974, feral salmon Salmo salar populations of the Baltic Sea have suffered from a yolk sac fry mortality known as the M74 syndrome. Mortality rates of 40–95% have been recorded during the 1990s in compensatory rearing stations along the east coast of Sweden. The M74 syndrome has been linked to the offspring of specific females and associated with low thiamine (vitamin B1) concentrations in both female tissues and their progeny. This study evaluated the effect of thiamine treatments on mortality and thiamine concentrations in progeny with and without M74. Eggs and newly hatched yolk sac fry were immersed in water containing thiamine at concentrations of 100, 500, or 2,000 mg/L. Hardening of eggs in water containing thiamine at 500 or 2,000 mg/L completely eliminated M74-related mortality, whereas treatment with thiamine at 100 mg/L only partially reduced M74 mortality. The mean thiamine concentrations at the yolk sac fry stage (21–23 d after hatching) in untreated normal and M74-affected groups were between 0.70–1.0 and 0.19–0.26 nmol/g, respectively. At the same sampling, the mean thiamine concentrations in groups in which eggs were waterhardened in thiamine at 500 or 2,000 mg/L were between 0.8 and 9.4 times higher than the concentrations in the untreated groups. A thiamine threshold limit interval of 0.34–0.47 nmol/g was estimated for the development of M74 in yolk sac fry.

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Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea

Early Life Stage Mortality Syndrome in Fishes of the Great Lakes and Baltic Sea ◽

10.47886/9781888569087.ch9 ◽

1998 ◽

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Great Lakes ◽

Baltic Sea ◽

Salmo Salar ◽

Strong Correlation ◽

Early Life ◽

Life Stage ◽

Early Life Stage ◽

Yolk Sac ◽

Normal Behavior

Abstract.—Since 1974, feral Baltic salmon Salmo salar populations have suffered from yolk sac fry mortality caused by the M74 syndrome. This syndrome affects yolk sac fry originating from specific females, and the mortality in affected family groups is usually 100%. Since 1990–1991, disturbances in the behavior of spawning migrating Baltic salmon have been observed. This study found a strong correlation between wiggling behavior in adult female Baltic salmon and the development of M74 in their offspring. Moreover, the ovarian thiamine concentrations in wiggling females were found to be significantly lower than those of females with normal behavior. In addition, eyed eggs and yolk sac fry that subsequently developed M74 contained only 13% (0.24 nmol/g) and 6% (0.11 nmol/g), respectively, of the thiamine concentrations detected in viable progeny sampled during the same periods. Eyed eggs with thiamine concentrations below a threshold limit interval of 0.36–0.77 nmol/g were found to have a high risk of developing M74 at the yolk sac fry stage.

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