Thermal effects on behavior of juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma): implications for energetics and food web models

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P Hurst

The behavioral responses of fishes to temperature variation have received little attention despite their direct implications to bioenergetics-based models of production and encounter-based models of food web dynamics. Behavioral characteristics of juvenile walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), a pelagic marine zooplanktivore, were examined between 2 and 9 °C in large arenas. Routine swim speed, path sinuosity, and schooling cohesiveness of fish in small groups were described from overhead video observations. In a separate experiment, maximum swimming speeds were measured in a recirculating flume. Routine and maximum swimming speeds had contrasting responses to temperature demonstrating a behavioral rather than physiological regulation of activity level. Routine swim speed was 48% faster at 2 °C than at 9 °C. This result is inconsistent with the assumption of a constant activity multiplier for metabolism incorporated into most bioenergetics models of fish growth. Increased swim speed, along with the reduced path sinuosity observed at low temperatures, may reflect kinetic aspects of habitat selection. Group cohesion increased at low temperatures, with nearest neighbors averaging 32% closer at 2 °C than at 9 °C. These results demonstrate that representative models of energy flow through marine food webs depend on an improved understanding of the behavioral as well as physiological responses of fishes to thermal variation.

1995 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Seok Park ◽  
Yasunori Sakurai ◽  
Kohji Iida ◽  
Tohru Mukai

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1573) ◽  
pp. 1735-1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Ciannelli ◽  
Kevin M Bailey ◽  
Kung-Sik Chan ◽  
Andrea Belgrano ◽  
Nils Chr Stenseth

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuzumi FUJIMORI ◽  
Kenji CHIBA ◽  
Tatsuki OSHIMA ◽  
Kazushi MIYASHITA ◽  
Satoshi HONDA

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 812-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Hurst ◽  
Elena R. Fernandez ◽  
Jeremy T. Mathis

Abstract Hurst, T. P., Fernandez, E. R., and Mathis, J. T. 2013. Effects of ocean acidification on hatch size and larval growth of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 812–822. Rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are predicted to decrease the pH of high-latitude oceans by 0.3–0.5 units by 2100. Because of their limited capacity for ion exchange, embryos and larvae of marine fishes are predicted to be more sensitive to elevated CO2 than juveniles and adults. Eggs and larvae of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) were incubated across a broad range of CO2 levels (280–2100 µatm) to evaluate sensitivity in this critical resource species. Slightly elevated CO2 levels (∼450 µatm) resulted in earlier hatching times, but differences among egg batches were greater than those observed across CO2 treatments. Egg batches differed significantly in size-at-hatch metrics, but we observed no consistent effect of CO2 level. In three independent experiments, walleye pollock were reared at ambient and elevated CO2 levels through the early larval stage (to ∼30 days post-hatch). Across trials, there were only minor effects of CO2 level on size and growth rate, but fish in the ambient treatments tended to be slightly smaller than fish reared at elevated CO2 levels. These results suggest that growth potential of early life stages of walleye pollock is resilient with respect to the direct physiological effects of ocean acidification.


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