scholarly journals Insights from life history traits of Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) in Taiwanese waters: Shorter body length characterizes northwest Pacific population

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. E43-E64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ing Chen ◽  
Alastair Watson ◽  
Lien-Siang Chou
2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 741-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Poulin

Taxa that include both free-living and parasitic lineages present opportunities to examine if and how the life-history traits of parasitic organisms have diverged from those of their free-living relatives. In a comparative analysis the body sizes and numbers of body segments of parasitic polychaetes of the family Oenonidae were compared with those of free-living polychaetes from closely related families. There was no difference in body length between oenonids and free-living polychaetes. However, the parasitic oenonids attain, on average, a much higher number of body segments than their free-living counterparts. The number of segments per unit body length is also much higher in oenonids than in related free-living polychaetes. This suggests that new segments are produced at a higher rate or for longer periods in oenonids than in free-living polychaetes, in which the proliferation of new segments slows down over time to allow for the segments to grow in size. Given that each segment can produce gametes late in the life of the worm, the proliferation of segments in oenonids may be an adaptation to their parasitic life-style.


Author(s):  
M. B. Jones ◽  
G. D. Wigham

A population of the supralittoral Orchestia gammarellus (Pallas) (Amphipoda: Talitridae), living in a percolating filter of a sewage treatment works has been studied over 12 months. The population showed a seasonal pattern of occurrence, few animals being collected during the winter. The sex ratio was biased significantly to females except during the breeding season when it did not deviate significantly from 1:1. Ovigerous females, never collected in high numbers (1–14 per month), were found from April to August, with peak occurrence in May/June. Juveniles were present throughout the year, but peak recruitment occurred in summer, following the period of reproduction by females. The smallest ovigerous female had a body length of 12.6 mm and the largest measured 20.0 mm. Egg numbers (5–31 per brood) increased with increasing female size and egg volume more than doubled during embryonic development. These findings are discussed in relation to the possible methods of colonization of this unique habitat and the influence of sewage on crustacean life-history traits.


Author(s):  
Arnaud Le Rouzic ◽  
Clémentine Renneville ◽  
Alexis Millot ◽  
Simon Agostini ◽  
David Carmignac ◽  
...  

AbstractAnticipating the genetic and phenotypic changes induced by natural or artificial selection requires reliable estimates of trait evolvabilities (genetic variances and covariances). However, whether or not multivariate quantitative genetics models are able to predict precisely the evolution of traits of interest, especially fitness-related, life-history traits, remains an open empirical question. Here, we assessed to what extent the response to bivariate artificial selection on both body size and maturity in the medaka Oryzias latipes, a model fish species, fits the theoretical predictions. Three lines (Large, Small, and Control lines) were differentially selected for body length at 75 days of age, conditional on maturity. As maturity and body size were phenotypically correlated, this selection procedure generated a bi-dimensional selection pattern on two life history traits. After removal of non-heritable trends and noise with a random effect (’animal’) model, the observed selection response did not match the expected bidirectional response. For body size, Large and Control lines responded along selection gradients (larger body size and stasis, respectively), but, surprisingly, the Small did not evolve a smaller body length, and remained identical to the Control line throughout the experiment. The magnitude of the empirical response was smaller than the theoretical prediction in both selected directions. For maturity, the response was opposite to the expectation (the Large line evolved late maturity compared to the Control line, while the Small line evolved early maturity, while the opposite pattern was predicted due to the strong positive genetic correlation between both traits). The mismatch between predicted and observed response was substantial and could not be explained by usual sources of uncertainties (including sampling effects, genetic drift, and error in G matrix estimates).


2020 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
HW Fennie ◽  
S Sponaugle ◽  
EA Daly ◽  
RD Brodeur

Predation is a major source of mortality in the early life stages of fishes and a driving force in shaping fish populations. Theoretical, modeling, and laboratory studies have generated hypotheses that larval fish size, age, growth rate, and development rate affect their susceptibility to predation. Empirical data on predator selection in the wild are challenging to obtain, and most selective mortality studies must repeatedly sample populations of survivors to indirectly examine survivorship. While valuable on a population scale, these approaches can obscure selection by particular predators. In May 2018, along the coast of Washington, USA, we simultaneously collected juvenile quillback rockfish Sebastes maliger from both the environment and the stomachs of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch. We used otolith microstructure analysis to examine whether juvenile coho salmon were age-, size-, and/or growth-selective predators of juvenile quillback rockfish. Our results indicate that juvenile rockfish consumed by salmon were significantly smaller, slower growing at capture, and younger than surviving (unconsumed) juvenile rockfish, providing direct evidence that juvenile coho salmon are selective predators on juvenile quillback rockfish. These differences in early life history traits between consumed and surviving rockfish are related to timing of parturition and the environmental conditions larval rockfish experienced, suggesting that maternal effects may substantially influence survival at this stage. Our results demonstrate that variability in timing of parturition and sea surface temperature leads to tradeoffs in early life history traits between growth in the larval stage and survival when encountering predators in the pelagic juvenile stage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-200
Author(s):  
Ufuk Bülbül ◽  
Halime Koç ◽  
Yasemin Odabaş ◽  
Ali İhsan Eroğlu ◽  
Muammer Kurnaz ◽  
...  

Age structure of the eastern spadefoot toad, Pelobates syriacus from the Kızılırmak Delta (Turkey) were assessed using phalangeal skeletochronology. Snout-vent length (SVL) ranged from 42.05 to 86.63 mm in males and 34.03 to 53.27 mm in females. Age of adults ranged from 2 to 8 years in males and 3 to 5 years in females. For both sexes, SVL was significantly correlated with age. Males and females of the toads reached maturity at 2 years of age.


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