Early growth, mortality, and partial migration of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) larvae and juveniles in the St. Lawrence estuary, Canada

Abstract After being extirpated from the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE), striped bass (Morone saxatilis) were reintroduced in 2002, and by 2008 they were naturally reproducing. The increase of this reintroduced population prompted the need to document its nursery habitats utilization, which contribute to species recruitment. We analysed mortality-dispersion rates and the growth of larvae and juveniles in relation to their occurrence and migration patterns. From June to September 2014, we collected striped bass distributed in four estuarine habitats: the upstream freshwater section (UP), the oligohaline (O-ETM) and the mesohaline (M-ETM) estuarine turbidity maximum zone, and the downstream polyhaline section (DOWN). Based on otolith microstructure and microchemistry, 305 back-calculated growth and 36 migration trajectories have been reconstructed. The UP and the O-ETM provided optimal conditions wherein which larvae and juveniles exhibited fastest growth. In the SLE, we emphasized the co-existence of a freshwater resident contingent and two migrant contingents to the M-ETM and DOWN. We propose that migrants adopt an adaptive migration behaviour to avoid suboptimal conditions and strong intraspecific competition from resident in the upstream habitats. The potential advantage of a downstream migration later in the season might be an adaptative strategy to promote their survival during the early life stages.

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Philometra rubra (Nematoda: Philometridae) — first description of the male from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and implications for re-introduction of an extirpated population

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/cjz-2016-0141 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 95 (5) ◽

pp. 345-352

Author(s):

L.N. Measures ◽

F. Moravec ◽

S. Douglas ◽

S. Lair

Keyword(s):

Striped Bass ◽

Parasitic Nematode ◽

Morone Saxatilis ◽

Body Cavity ◽

The Body ◽

Tissue Response ◽

Swim Bladder ◽

Lawrence Estuary ◽

Young Of The Year ◽

St Lawrence Estuary

Philometra rubra (Leidy, 1856) is a pathogenic parasitic nematode infecting striped bass (Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792)) in eastern North America. Identification of philometrids is difficult, male P. rubra have never been found, and transmission is poorly understood. To re-establish the “Extirpated” striped bass population in the St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE), Quebec, young-of-the-year (YOY) striped bass from the Miramichi River, New Brunswick, were collected and released into the SLE. The present study was undertaken to find Philometra in striped bass from the Miramichi River, for identification, description, and examine transmission and lesions. Philometra rubra was identified in 100% of 32 YOY (intensity = 26–125) and 100% of nine 1-year-old (intensity = 4–25 in five striped bass) striped bass collected in summer 2011. The swim bladder and body cavity were sites of infection in YOY with no tissue response observed histopathologically. Gravid P. rubra females occurred in the body cavity and swim bladder, with males predominately in the latter site. Males were short-lived, being absent in 1-year-old bass. Adult male and adult female P. rubra are described. Males of P. rubra can be distinguished from other described species based on spicule, gubernaculum, and body-length measurements. This parasite may have implications for the re-introduction program and conservation of striped bass in the SLE and in other populations.

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Feeding ecology of early life stages of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) along an estuarine salinity-turbidity gradient, St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

Journal of Plankton Research ◽

10.1093/plankt/fbz031 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 507-520 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

L Vanalderweireldt ◽

P Sirois ◽

M Mingelbier ◽

G Winkler

Keyword(s):

Striped Bass ◽

Feeding Ecology ◽

Early Life ◽

Morone Saxatilis ◽

Early Summer ◽

Gut Contents ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Lawrence Estuary ◽

Feeding Niche

Abstract After being extirpated from the St. Lawrence River in the 1960s, striped bass (Morone saxatilis) were reintroduced to the estuary in 2002 and by 2008, they were naturally reproducing. To document the habitat use and feeding ecology of this reintroduced population, we examined the gut contents of 333 larvae and juveniles. Samples were collected in four estuarine habitats in 2014: the upstream freshwater section (UP), the oligohaline (O-ETM) and the mesohaline (M-ETM) estuarine turbidity maximum zones, and the downstream polyhaline section (DOWN). In June, pelagic larvae developed in the UP and the O-ETM, feeding mainly on copepods such as Eurytemora affinis. The O-ETM exhibited better suitable feeding conditions compared to the UP, likely due to the presence of Bosmina sp. as a primary prey. After July, striped bass shifted to larger prey items, consuming mainly dipteran pupa in upstream littoral habitats and gammarids and mysids in downstream habitats. In the early summer, the UP provided a high-quality nursery habitat and as the season progressed, the smallest juveniles dispersed downstream and improved their feeding success by exploiting a new feeding niche. This observation suggests that being distributed throughout the estuary may increase the potential survival of striped bass early life stages.

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Effects of predation on telemetry-based survival estimates: insights from a study on endangered Atlantic salmon smolts

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2014-0245 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 72 (5) ◽

pp. 728-741 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

A. Jamie F. Gibson ◽

Edmund A. Halfyard ◽

Rod G. Bradford ◽

Michael J.W. Stokesbury ◽

Anna M. Redden

Keyword(s):

Atlantic Salmon ◽

Striped Bass ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Morone Saxatilis ◽

Population Level ◽

Fish Predation ◽

Bay Of Fundy ◽

Migration Patterns ◽

Predation Effects

Telemetry is increasingly being used to estimate population-level survival rates. However, these estimates may be affected by the detectability of telemetry tags and are reliant on the assumption that telemetry data represent the movements of the tagged fish. Predation on tagged fish has the potential to bias survival estimates, and unlike the issue of detectability, methods to correct for the resulting bias (termed “predation bias”) are not yet developed. In an acoustic telemetry study on inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts during 2008 and 2011, unusual tag detection patterns were indicative that some data may have been representative of the movements of predators rather than smolts. To incorporate predation effects into the resulting survival estimates, a suite of 11 summary migration metrics were compared between Atlantic salmon smolts and striped bass (Morone saxatilis). Cluster analyses revealed that 2.4% to 13.6% of tags implanted in smolts exhibited migration patterns more similar to striped bass than to other smolts, which was interpreted here as evidence of predation. Reassigning the fate of these tags as “depredated–died” reduced estimated survival from 43.5% to 41.1% in 2008 and from 32.6% to 19.0% in 2011 relative to a traditional mark–recapture model, illustrating the effect of predation bias in this case study.

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Habitat use by early life stages of the re-established striped bass and conspecific fish species along the St. Lawrence estuary

Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science ◽

10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106696 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 237 ◽

pp. 106696

Author(s):

L. Vanalderweireldt ◽

G. Winkler ◽

E.L. Forget-Lacoursière ◽

M. Mingelbier ◽

P. Sirois

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Striped Bass ◽

Fish Species ◽

Early Life ◽

Life Stages ◽

Early Life Stages ◽

Lawrence Estuary ◽

St Lawrence Estuary

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Utility of Meristic and Morphometric Characters for Identification of Capelin (Mallotus villosus) Stocks in Canadian Atlantic Waters

Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada ◽

10.1139/f78-016 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 124-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Joan C. Sharp ◽

Kenneth W. Able ◽

William C. Leggett ◽

James E. Carscadden

Keyword(s):

Mallotus Villosus ◽

Meristic Characters ◽

Body Depth ◽

Morphometric Characters ◽

Lawrence Estuary ◽

Grand Banks ◽

Capelin Mallotus Villosus ◽

Statistical Separation ◽

And Migration ◽

St Lawrence Estuary

Multivariate discriminant function analyses were performed on 9 morphometric and 11 meristic characters of capelin (Mallotus villosus) samples at Île aux Coudres in the St. Lawrence estuary; Sept Îles, Natashquan, and Grande Rivière in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; Southeast Shoal on the Grand Banks; and Herring Neck, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. Analyses of meristic characters provided no evidence of discrete stocks. Analyses of morphometric characters provided strong statistical separation between areas. A posteriori classification of groups yielded 93.1% correct classification for males and 73.3% for females. Only snout length, eye diameter, head length, and body depth contributed significantly to the separation obtained. These findings suggest that meristic characters offer little potential for stock identification in Canadian Atlantic waters. Morphometric characters may prove useful, but further study, corroborated with life history and migration data, is required to confirm this. Key words: capelin, Mallotus villosus, meristics, morphometrics, stock separation, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Canadian Atlantic, multivariate analysis

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The mechanism of retention of pelagic tomcod, Microgadus tomcod, larvae and juveniles in the well-mixed part of the St. Lawrence Estuary

Environmental Biology of Fishes ◽

10.1007/bf00001186 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 293-302 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Réjean Laprise ◽

Julian J. Dodson

Keyword(s):

Lawrence Estuary ◽

Larvae And Juveniles ◽

St Lawrence Estuary ◽

Microgadus Tomcod

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Reproduction, feeding and migration patterns of Prochilodus nigricans (Characiformes: Prochilodontidae) in northeastern Ecuador

Neotropical Ichthyology ◽

10.1590/1982-0224-20160171 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Eddy A. Silva ◽

Donald J. Stewart

Keyword(s):

Body Condition ◽

Long Distance ◽

Large White ◽

Migration Patterns ◽

Spawning Period ◽

Nursery Habitats ◽

Political Boundaries ◽

And Migration ◽

Integrated Conservation ◽

Eggs And Larvae

ABSTRACT The black prochilodus, Prochilodus nigricans, is an important food fish distributed throughout aquatic habitats of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We sampled gonad weight, body condition, and feeding of this species to address the question of whether changes in these biological parameters are related to hydrological variation and migration patterns. High frequency of empty stomachs and poor body condition corresponded to migration periods. Gonad condition analysis revealed a single, discrete spawning period in April (end of rising water season). We synthesized our own and published observations on migration patterns of black prochilodus and presumptive factors that influence those movements. Mature individuals make lateral migrations from peripheral flooded habitats to large white water rivers to spawn. Eggs and larvae drift downstream to nurseries at least into Peru and perhaps into Brazil; there do not appear to be nursery habitats in Ecuador. After 6-18 months, they migrate upstream, recruiting to parental stocks. Long-distance migrations of black prochilodus and similar fishes in Neotropical rivers disobey political boundaries. Conservation and management of such migratory fishes, thus, requires international co-operation and integrated conservation efforts.

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Effect of calcium on cadmium uptake and toxicity in larvae and juveniles of striped bass (Morone saxatilis)

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ◽

10.1007/bf01609724 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 196-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

D. A. Wright ◽

M. J. Meteyer ◽

F. D. Martin

Keyword(s):

Striped Bass ◽

Morone Saxatilis ◽

Cadmium Uptake ◽

Larvae And Juveniles

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Emamectin benzoate is a safe and effective anthelmintic against coelomic nematode Philometra rubra in striped bass Morone saxatilis

Diseases of Aquatic Organisms ◽

10.3354/dao03530 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 ◽

pp. 47-53

Author(s):

K Béland ◽

G Séguin ◽

S Lair

Keyword(s):

Mortality Rate ◽

Striped Bass ◽

High Mortality ◽

Morone Saxatilis ◽

Treatment Results ◽

Emamectin Benzoate ◽

Once Daily ◽

Fish Hatchery ◽

Parasitic Burden

An unusually high mortality rate due to verminous (Philometra rubra) coelomitis was documented in wild-hatched striped bass Morone saxatilis raised in a fish hatchery as part of a stock restoration program. To decrease the parasitic burden and therefore potentially minimize mortality, the effectiveness of 2 different anthelmintics was evaluated. Two trials were conducted on wild-collected fingerlings naturally infected by P. rubra. In 2006, 144 yearling fish were randomly assigned to 4 experimental groups: (1) levamisole (Levasol®) at 2 mg l-1 via immersion for 8 h once weekly for 3 wk; (2) levamisole at a dose of 2.5 mg kg-1 biomass via feed once daily for 7 d; (3) emamectin benzoate (Slice®) at a dose of 0.05 mg kg-1 biomass via feed once daily for 7 d; and (4) control. Emamectin successfully eliminated live nematodes in 84.9% of the fish, whereas the administration of levamisole, either via immersion or feed, was not successful in significantly reducing the number of live P. rubra. In 2007, the administration of the same dosage of emamectin to approximately 1000 naturally infected yearling striped bass was associated with a 100% mortality rate of P. rubra in the 30 fish randomly examined 5 wk after the beginning of the treatment. Results of these trials indicate that, at the dosage used, the administration of emamectin at the end of the summer is safe for striped bass yearlings and considerably reduces the prevalence and intensity of the infection by this parasite.

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