Pleomerism, the Widespread Tendency Among Related Fish Species for Vertebral Number to be Correlated with Maximum Body Length

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 2453-2469 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Lindsey
Keyword(s):  
Body Length ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Maximum Length ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Vertebral Number ◽  
Sea Snakes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Maximum Body

Data for 3137 fish species were analyzed for possible correlations, among related species, between mean vertebral number (V) and maximum recorded body length (L). Of 118 families having counts for over 4 species, 90 show a positive correlation; statistically significant correlations are positive in 45 and negative in only 2 families. The relationship can be expressed by the power function V = CLm, in which C and m are constants characteristic of each family or taxon. Among families with a significant correlation between V and L, the median value of m is 0.12 (representing about 10% vertebral increase for each doubling of length) but m ranges widely, from −0.033 to +0.416. Families with high mean vertebral counts tend to have high m values. The phenomenon, termed pleomerism, occurs within genera as well as within families, and sometimes between races, between populations, or even between the sexes. It exists in widely different shapes of fishes (e.g. sharks, mackerels, sea horses, sand lances, and lumpfish), and in caecilians and in sea snakes. Latitudinal gradients in vertebral number (Jordan’s rule) are often reinforced by pleomerism coupled with latitudinal gradients in maximum length, but gradients in vertebral numbers persist even when effect of maximum length is removed. Although its cause is unknown, pleomerism is taxonomically useful in predicting adult sizes of species known only from young specimens, and in unmasking synonymies of "species" based on young of other named species. Vertebral number considered in conjunction with maximum size is more reliable for making taxonomic judgments at all levels than is vertebral number alone. Moreover, if the cause of pleomerism is functional, it may provide information on locomotory mechanisms and on population biology, since mean vertebral number in each population may be matched to that body size at which selection operates most significantly.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Size at Maturity and Maximum Size in Cichlid Populations Corroborates the Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT)

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
UPALI S. AMARASINGHE ◽  
DANIEL PAULY
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Oxygen Limitation ◽  
Fish Growth ◽  
The Other ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
The Relationship

Fish generally mature at a smaller fraction of their maximum sizes than birds and mammals. The farmed tilapia (Family Cichlidae) can tolerate adverse conditions that result in stunting and which also cause the fish to spawn at small size. Such spawning at small size (or ‘early spawning’) is usually perceived as a unique feature of tilapia. The mechanism that explains how stressful environmental conditions tend to reduce the maximum size that fish can reach is very general and should apply to all fish. However, not all fish species are equally hardy, and most fish do not survive in the stunted or dwarf form under stressful environmental conditions. Tilapia, and other cichlids, on the other hand, can handle stressful conditions, if by remaining stunted. The present study shows that tilapia and other cichlids do not spawn ‘earlier’ than other teleosts. Rather, they are exceptionally tolerant of stressful environmental conditions, but with elevated metabolism. By reducing their growth and the maximum size they can reach ‘stunting’, they also reduce the sizes at which their maturity is initiated (‘early spawning’). This corroborates the gill-oxygen limitation theory (GOLT), which identifies spawning as an event rather than a determinant of fish growth.

scholarly journals Selection of candidate fish species for farming in the bay of Guaratuba, Brazil

2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Bouchereau ◽  
Paulo T. Chaves ◽  
Jean-Jacques Albaret
Keyword(s):  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Maximum Length ◽  
Mangrove Species ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Centropomus Undecimalis ◽  
Absolute Length ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Selection Of

An inventory of the maximum length (ML) reached by 57 species of fishes living in the mangrove of Guaratuba, Brazil, was undertaken with an aim to evaluate the relationship between the ecosystem and the size of individuals. For each of these species, the maximum length found in the region were compared with those available in existing literature. The majority of populations presented individuals whose length reached at least 40% than the known maximum length for the species, although only 19.3% were longer than 300mm in absolute value. Population of the other species were represented only by individuals either in their initial development phases, or reduced length as compared to the maximum length known elsewhere for the same species. In this mangrove, species having the largest relative size are generally those that had the smallest absolute length. Proposed is use of an index LR (maximum observed lengths/maximum available lengths) as a tool for description and comparison of fish assemblages. Observations of the maximum size make possible the pre-selection of 12 species for breeding tests. In combining the biological, technical and commercial parameters, the pre-selection retains as primordial the following species: Centropomus parallelus, Centropomus undecimalis, Menticirrhus americanus and Micropogonias furnieri.

Maximum weight of Siberian taimen Hucho taimen (Pallas) in its range

Fisheries ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Sergei Zolotukhin ◽  
Ilya Sherbovich
Keyword(s):  
Body Length ◽  
Sea Of Okhotsk ◽  
Extreme Values ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Hucho Taimen ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Maximum Body

In most western regions, Siberian taimen has become a rarity in its range. At present, only a few refugiums of the Siberian and Far Eastern rivers still have groups of Siberian taimen, where fish of the maximum size are recorded. In the east of its range, the rivers that flow into the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk: The Amur, Uda and Tugur, are the few areas where the Siberian taimen groups are still preserved in good condition in uninhabited places. On the example of p. Tugur (Tuguro-Chumikansky district of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sea of Okhotsk), where there are no roads and a small population, the authors studied the local grouping of Siberian taimen, where individuals of maximum size are still not uncommon. The remaining areas of the range are considered according to scientific publications. Fish of the maximum size are very rare, which is logical: the number of extreme values of the size-age range is minimal. In 2007-2018, in the Tugur River, individuals aged 6-10 years were the maximum (27.6%), and 31-35 years – the minimum (0.9%) of the age range. The archives of the sport fishing base in the Tugur River basin for 2008-2020 showed that the maximum body length of the Siberian taimen was 165 cm, and the maximum body weight was 51.12 kg. Neither in the era of black-and-white photography, nor in the era of video, there is no documentary evidence of the Siberian taimen with a body length of more than 170 cm.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Trace Metal Levels in Tissues of Two Commercial Fish Species in Kapar and Mersing Coastal Waters, Peninsular Malaysia

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fathi Alhashmi Bashir ◽  
Mohammad Shuhaimi-Othman ◽  
A. G. Mazlan
Keyword(s):  
Trace Metal ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Metal Concentrations ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
Metal Levels ◽  
The Relationship

This study is focused on evaluating the trace metal levels in water and tissues of two commercial fish species Arius thalassinus and Pennahia anea that were collected from Kapar and Mersing coastal waters. The concentrations of Fe, Zn, Al, As, Cd and Pb in these coastal waters and muscle, liver and gills tissues of the fishes were quantified. The relationship among the metal concentrations and the height and weight of the two species were also examined. Generally, the iron has the highest concentrations in both water and the fish species. However, Cd in both coastal waters showed high levels exceeding the international standards. The metal level concentration in the sample fishes are in the descending order livers > gills > muscles. A positive association between the trace metal concentrations and weight and length of the sample fishes was investigated. Fortunately the level of these metal concentrations in fish has not exceeded the permitted level of Malaysian and international standards.

scholarly journals Intraspecific Variation in Maximum Ingested Food Size and Body Mass in Varecia rubra and Propithecus coquereli

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hartstone-Rose ◽  
Jonathan M. G. Perry
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Scaling Relationship ◽  
Varecia Rubra ◽  
Food Size ◽  
The Relationship

In a recent study, we quantified the scaling of ingested food size (Vb )—the maximum size at which an animal consistently ingests food whole—and found that Vb scaled isometrically between species of captive strepsirrhines. The current study examines the relationship between Vb and body size within species with a focus on the frugivorous Varecia rubra and the folivorous Propithecus coquereli. We found no overlap in Vb between the species (all V. rubra ingested larger pieces of food relative to those eaten by P. coquereli), and least-squares regression of Vb and three different measures of body mass showed no scaling relationship within each species. We believe that this lack of relationship results from the relatively narrow intraspecific body size variation and seemingly patternless individual variation in Vb within species and take this study as further evidence that general scaling questions are best examined interspecifically rather than intraspecifically.

scholarly journals Seasonal maturation of Glypthelmins vitellinophilum (Trematoda: Digenea) in Lysapsus limellus (Anura: Pseudidae) from an Argentinian subtropical permanent pond

2006 ◽  
Vol 66 (1a) ◽  
pp. 85-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. I. Hamann
Keyword(s):  
Body Length ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Stage Iv ◽  
The Body ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Parasite Stage ◽  
Permanent Pond ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
The Relationship

From December 1995 to November 2000, the seasonal maturation of Glypthelmins vitellinophilum Dobbin, 1958, in its definitive host, the frog Lysapsus limellus Cope, 1862, was studied in a subtropical permanent pond in northeastern Argentina. The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine the infrapopulation dynamics of the parasite, analyzing the seasonal maturation cycle throughout the years; and 2) to examine the relationship between the intensity of trematode infection in different developmental stages (recruitment, growth and maturation) and the host's body length. Of a total of 1,400 frogs examined over 60 months (5 years), 38% were found to be infected with G. vitellinophilum, and the intensity of infection was 1-15 trematodes per frog. Specimens of G. vitellinophilum were present in L. limellus throughout the years, but did not show a pronounced seasonal maturation cycle. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed with reference to climatic fluctuations and biotic factors. The infective period of the parasite (stage I) occurred in summer, autumn and spring, coinciding with the time each frog cohort appeared. These infections were found principally in small body sizes (classes 1 and 2) of L. limellus. Juvenile and nongravid specimens of worms (stage II and III) were found in frogs of different body sizes throughout the period of investigation. Gravid specimens of the parasite (stage IV) were generally recorded in autumn, winter and spring, mainly in the bodies of larger frogs. The body length of Trematodes in stages I and IV was significantly and positively correlated with that of the frogs.

scholarly journals Morphological differentiation among migratory fish species from the Paraná River basin

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucileine de Assumpção ◽  
Maristela Cavicchioli Makrakis ◽  
Sergio Makrakis ◽  
Pitágoras Augusto Piana ◽  
Patrícia Sarai da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Fish Passage ◽  
Paraná River ◽  
Migratory Fish ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Caudal Peduncle ◽  
Parana River ◽  
Maximum Body ◽  
Paraná River Basin

This study characterized the morphological differences among migratory fish species from the Paraná River Basin. A total of 177 adult fish of Leporinus elongatus, Leporinus macrocephalus, Prochilodus lineatus, Salminus brasiliensis, Pimelodus maculatus, Pinirampus pirinampu, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans, Pterodoras granulosus, and Rhaphiodon vulpinus were sampled in the Canal da Piracema, a fish passage system at Itaipu Dam, Paraná River. The migratory species were analyzed through 22 morphometric measurements and fineness ratio to identify morphological patterns related to swimming performance. Four species groups were indicated by the Cluster analysis: I) R. vulpinus; II) P. corruscans; III) L. macrocephalus, L. elongatus, P. lineatus, P. maculatus, and S. brasiliensis - measurements of head height and anal fin length formed this group; and IV) P. granulosus and P. pirinampu - measurements of maximum body width and caudal peduncle width contributed to form this group. The morphometric variables that most contributed to the distinction were head length and mouth width for groups I and II. The species R. vulpinus and P. granulosus differed from other species, showing fineness ratios of 9.4 and 3.7, respectively. Leporinus elongatus, L. macrocephalus, P. lineatus, P. maculatus, and S. brasiliensis showed significant differences from other species, with ratios ranging from 4.57 to 5.19, indicating that these species may be better swimmers. Long-distance migratory species using the Piracema Canal to ascend upstream areas differed morphologically, morphological characteristics such as a narrow caudal peduncle and maximum body length, besides to the values of the fineness ratio, were essential to differentiate the migratory species.

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