scholarly journals Once upon a larva: revisiting the relationship between feeding success and growth in fish larvae

2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pepin ◽  
Dominique Robert ◽  
Caroline Bouchard ◽  
John F. Dower ◽  
Marianne Falardeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Growth Time ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Fast Growing ◽  
Feeding Success

Abstract Variations in larval fish growth rates are largely the result of variability in biotic and abiotic characteristics of the feeding environment experienced by each individual. An assessment of an individual's overall feeding success (i.e. accumulation of utilizable organic matter) can best be achieved at the time of capture when the relationships among environment, short-term feeding success as defined by gut content and long-term feeding success as defined by accumulated growth can be contrasted. Here, we investigated the relationships between average growth, feeding success, and variability in individual growth and feeding rates across a range of taxa based on a synthesis of studies in which stomach content and otolith growth were measured in the same individuals. Instantaneous measures of feeding success were highly variable and demonstrated a positive yet somewhat limited association with growth rates across all taxa. The strength of the feeding-growth relationships among taxa, and cohorts within taxa, was reflected in the autocorrelation of individual growth rates, suggesting that stable growth was achieved through consistent feeding success. However, when viewed at the individual level, faster growth was achieved in individuals with more variable growth rates, and by inference more variable past feeding success. The dichotomy in these underlying relationships may point to the importance of stochastic events in the development of exceptional individuals in a population, and may be linked to how surplus energy is allocated to individual growth rates. The positive correlation found between feeding success and growth in all taxa is consistent with the growth-survival paradigm for the larval stage of fish. However, both the correlation between feeding success and growth and the serial correlation of growth time-series was greatest in fast-growing species, suggesting that the potential for an early “critical period” regulating survival varies among species, reaching a maximum in fast-growing fish.

Limnology of rearing ponds for Australian fish larvae: Relationships among water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and the growth of larval fish

1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 537 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Culver ◽  
MC Geddes
Keyword(s):  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
N:P Ratio ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Phytoplankton Blooms ◽  
Chironomid Larvae ◽  
Cyanobacterium Anabaena ◽  
Australian Fish ◽  
Zooplankton Succession ◽  
Zooplankton Communities

Fertilization of earthen ponds used to rear the larvae of golden perch, Macquaria ambigua, and silver perch, Bidyanus bidyanus, resulted in phytoplankton blooms dominated by the cyanobacterium Anabaena possibly because of a low N:P ratio. There was a zooplankton succession of rotifers (mostly Brachionus), Moina, Boeckella and Mesocyclops, and then Daphnia. An increase in Daphnia correlated with a decline in Anabaena, suggesting grazing on that cyanobacterium. Golden perch larvae included copepods in their diet whereas silver perch did not, and this was reflected in lower Boeckella numbers in the golden perch ponds. There was sufficient zooplankton forage, supplemented by chironomid larvae in the later stages of the rearing ponds, for fish growth. The limnological conditions and zooplankton communities in these ponds provide a model for evaluating nursery grounds for these fish.

scholarly journals Moonlight enhances growth in larval fish

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Shima ◽  
SE Swearer
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Pelagic Larvae

© 2018 by the Ecological Society of America Moonlight mediates trophic interactions and shapes the evolution of life-history strategies for nocturnal organisms. Reproductive cycles and important life-history transitions for many marine organisms coincide with moon phases, but few studies consider the effects of moonlight on pelagic larvae at sea. We evaluated effects of moonlight on growth of pelagic larvae of a temperate reef fish using “master chronologies” of larval growth constructed from age-independent daily increment widths recorded in otoliths of 321 individuals. We found that daily growth rates of fish larvae were enhanced by lunar illumination after controlling for the positive influence of temperature and the negative influence of cloud cover. Collectively, these results indicate that moonlight enhances growth rates of larval fish. This pattern is likely the result of moonlight's combined effects on foraging efficiency and suppression of diel migrations of mesopelagic predators, and has the potential to drive evolution of marine life histories.

scholarly journals Moonlight enhances growth in larval fish

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Shima ◽  
SE Swearer
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Larval Growth ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Pelagic Larvae

© 2018 by the Ecological Society of America Moonlight mediates trophic interactions and shapes the evolution of life-history strategies for nocturnal organisms. Reproductive cycles and important life-history transitions for many marine organisms coincide with moon phases, but few studies consider the effects of moonlight on pelagic larvae at sea. We evaluated effects of moonlight on growth of pelagic larvae of a temperate reef fish using “master chronologies” of larval growth constructed from age-independent daily increment widths recorded in otoliths of 321 individuals. We found that daily growth rates of fish larvae were enhanced by lunar illumination after controlling for the positive influence of temperature and the negative influence of cloud cover. Collectively, these results indicate that moonlight enhances growth rates of larval fish. This pattern is likely the result of moonlight's combined effects on foraging efficiency and suppression of diel migrations of mesopelagic predators, and has the potential to drive evolution of marine life histories.

Consequences of plume encounter on larval fish growth and condition in the Gulf of Mexico

2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 63-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
KE Axler ◽  
S Sponaugle ◽  
F Hernandez ◽  
C Culpepper ◽  
RK Cowen
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Larval Fishes ◽  
River Estuarine ◽  
Anchoa Hepsetus

Freshwater input into nearshore continental shelf waters from coastal river-estuarine plumes can greatly alter the physical and trophic environments experienced by fish larvae. However, the biological consequences of plume encounter on larval fish survival remain equivocal, largely due to the extreme variability of these systems but also because traditional sampling techniques alone are too coarse to effectively characterize the dynamic biophysical environment at spatiotemporal scales relevant to individual larvae. Using a multidimensional approach, we simultaneously collected in situ imagery and net samples of larval fishes and zooplankton from the Mobile Bay plume (Alabama, USA) and ambient continental shelf waters during a high discharge event (8-11 April 2016). We measured the effects of plume encounter on growth and condition of larval striped anchovy Anchoa hepsetus and sand seatrout Cynoscion arenarius, 2 prominent nearshore species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Size-frequency distributions of both species indicated that larger individuals were present in shelf waters but absent from plume waters. Otolith microstructure analysis revealed that recent growth of both focal species was significantly lower for plume-collected larvae during the last few days prior to capture. Furthermore, plume larvae were in poorer morphometric condition (skinnier at length) than their shelf counterparts, despite the fact that there were higher concentrations of zooplankton prey in plume water masses. Taken together, these results suggest that elevated prey concentrations do not necessarily translate to higher growth and condition. High turbulence and turbidity within the plume may physically inhibit the prey capture ability and feeding success of fish larvae.

Behavior and recruitment success in fish larvae: variation with growth rate and the batch effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1337-1349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee A Fuiman ◽  
James H Cowan, Jr. ◽  
Michael E Smith ◽  
Jonathan P O'Neal
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Fast Growing ◽  
Predation Mortality ◽  
Survival Skills ◽  
Slow Growing

Predation-mortality risk for red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) larvae does not appear to be related to their growth rate, but important differences in behavioral performance occur between batches of larvae. This conclusion is based upon field-enclosure and laboratory experiments that assessed the degree to which predation-mortality rates and behavioral survival skills vary with growth rate. In field enclosures, populations composed of 15 fast-growing larvae and 15 slow-growing larvae of a comparable size were exposed to a predatory fish. Growth rate did not affect predation rate. In the laboratory we measured 11 survival skills on 100 larvae of a common size from 10 batches of eggs. For each batch, behavioral performance of fast-growing larvae was compared with that of slow-growing larvae. Growth rate did not affect performance in 10 of the 11 survival skills, but behavioral performance varied among treatment groups (growth rate × batch), with higher performance in most survival skills for some treatment groups and consistently poorer performance for other groups. This coordinated pattern of behavioral performance forecasts differential survival among batches. The variation among batches may be related to timing of spawning within the reproductive season of this serially spawning species.

scholarly journals Individual Growth Rates of Nikolsky’s Viper, Vipera berus nikolskii (Squamata, Viperidae)

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. S. Bondarenko ◽  
O. I. Zinenko
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Maturation Time ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Vipera Berus ◽  
Large Dispersion ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Intensive Growth

Abstract Capture-mark-recapture data was used to infer growth rates of the Nikolsky’s viper, Vipera berus nikolskii (Vedmederja, Grubant et Rudaeva, 1986), in the Eastern Ukraine. We have found that growth rate is negatively correlated with age. The difference in growth rates before maturation is not significant between different sexes. Growth rates decrease rapidly after maturation in males and females, however adult males retain significantly higher average growth rates. There is large dispersion of growth rates in the group of adult females, which is caused, probably, by alteration of complete arrest of growth in the years with reproduction and more intensive growth in the years without it. Asymptotic snout-ventral length estimated after Von Bertalanffy model was 680 mm in females and 630 mm in males. Females mature after fifth and males mature after fourth hibernation. The larger females in vipers can not be the result of higher growth rates in females, but are the outcome of a combination of other factors including different maturation time and size (older and being larger), and, perhaps, longer life span due to lower mortality. Growth rates of the Nikolsky’s viper in the nature are higher than in other species in the group of small Eurasian vipers.

scholarly journals Individual growth history of larval Atlantic mackerel is reflected in daily condition indices

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 1001-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Robert ◽  
Pierre Pepin ◽  
John F. Dower ◽  
Louis Fortier
Keyword(s):  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Early Ontogeny ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Body Depth ◽  
Atlantic Mackerel ◽  
Feeding Success ◽  
History Of ◽  
Condition Indices

Abstract We tested the hypothesis that faster-growing Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) larvae generally achieve better feeding success than their slower-growing counterparts. Feeding success and growth were derived from the analysis of gut content and otolith microstructure of larvae from four cohorts (1997–2000) from the southern Gulf of St Lawrence. We observed a high degree of serial correlation in otolith growth (OG) from hatching, suggesting that events occurring early in life have long-standing effects on future growth potential. The diet of fast-growing individuals was dominated by large prey, such as cladocerans and fish larvae (including conspecifics), while slow-growing larvae foraged primarily on smaller copepod naupliar stages. Both feeding success (stomach content) and an index of condition (body depth) were positively correlated with OG, and these relationships explained approximately three times more variance in mackerel than in larval radiated shanny (Ulvaria subbifurcata) of similar size. Relationships linking age-dependent scores of body depth to feeding success and growth were ∼3.5–4 times stronger than those based on length-dependent indices, suggesting that differences in energy allocation during early ontogeny may play a significant role in determining an individual's capacity to cope with variations in feeding conditions.

scholarly journals Risk-sensitive foraging does not explain condition-dependent choices in settling reef fish larvae

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8333
Author(s):  
Emma E. Bogdan ◽  
Andrea L. Dingeldein ◽  
Deirdre Bertrand ◽  
Will White
Keyword(s):  
Reef Fish ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Reef Fishes ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Risk Sensitive ◽  
Risk Sensitive Foraging

The transition from the planktonic larval to the benthic adult stage in reef fishes is perilous, and involves decisions about habitat selection and group membership. These decisions are consequential because they are essentially permanent (many fish rarely leave their initial settlement habitat, at least for the first several days or weeks). In one common Caribbean reef fish, the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum), settling larvae either join groups or remain solitary. Grouped fish have lower mortality rates but slightly slower growth rates, and fish that are smaller at the time of settlement are less likely to join groups. We hypothesized that the decision of smaller (i.e., lower condition) fish to remain solitary could be explained by risk-sensitive foraging: with less competition, solitary fish may have higher variance in foraging success, so that there is a chance of a high payoff (outweighing the increased mortality risk) despite the lack of a large difference in the average outcome. We tested this by comparing the mean, standard deviation, and maximum number of (a) prey items in stomach contents and (b) post-settlement growth rates (from otolith measurements) of solitary and grouped fish during two settlement pulses on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. However, we did not find evidence to support our hypothesis, nor any evidence to support the earlier finding that fish in groups have lower average growth rates. Thus we must consider alternative explanations for the tendency of smaller fish to remain solitary, such as the likely costs of searching for and joining groups at the time of settlement. This study reinforces the value of larval and juvenile fish as a testbed for behavioral decisionmaking, because their recent growth history is recorded in their otoliths.

Growth and flowering of young cocoa plants is promoted by organic and nitrate-based fertiliser amendments

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Smilja Lambert ◽  
Hussin bin Purung ◽  
Syawaluddin ◽  
Peter McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Calcium Nitrate ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Aluminium Toxicity ◽  
Gliricidia Sepium ◽  
Available P ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Organic Fertiliser ◽  
Soil C

Summary Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) farmers in Sulawesi, Indonesia typically use subsidised, ammonium-based rice fertilisers that in combination with poor agricultural practices have resulted in soil acidification, loss of organic matter, aluminium toxicity and lower soil fertility. As a result, these soils are only marginally appropriate for replanting cocoa to boost production. A field experiment was performed to test alternative soil amendments for successful replanting of cocoa on these deficient soils. In a trial with a randomised block design, 6-month old seedlings, top-grafted with the local MCC02 clone, were planted under light Gliricidia sepium shade and after 3 months treated quarterly with two options of mineral fertilisers: either a customised fertiliser, consisting of Nitrabor (a combination of calcium nitrate and boron), dolomite, rock phosphate and KCl or a NPK/urea mix used by farmers, each supplied with or without ‘micronutrient’ rock salt, organic fertiliser and beneficial microorganisms or their culture medium, a mixture of chitin and amino acids (a total of 20 treatments). Over a 4-year period, the marginal mean rates of stem diameter increment and flowering score were higher in customised fertiliser than NPK/urea treatments. The average growth rate was highest in the first year and was increased by supplying organic fertiliser. A significant correlation (r = 0.22, p < 0.05) occurred between growth and available P, but concentrations of available P were higher in the NPK/urea plots, which also had lower mean growth rates. Combined supply of organic fertiliser and microbes increased available P, as well as growth rates, in both the customised and NPK/urea treatments. In contrast, NPK/urea-treated plots without these amendments demonstrated very low growth rates. The customised formulation was more effective with or without added organic fertiliser or inoculated microbes. Micronutrient supply stimulated flowering. Growth rates in trees supplied with NPK/urea were also promoted by micronutrients. Leaf flush production occurred in regular cycles and was unaffected by the nutrient amendments. After 3 years, the customised and organic fertiliser application increased soil pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg concentrations, although they remained below recommended levels for cocoa production. These treatments had little impact on soil C content (about 1.3%) which was also deficient. Exchangeable Al and total Zn concentrations were higher in soils amended with NPK/urea. The results of the trial provide evidence that utilisation of organic fertiliser in combination with customised nitrate-based formulations improves cocoa establishment, growth and soil properties and should be recommended as a replacement for the NPK/urea fertilisers traditionally used by farmers.

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