Predation by Medusae on Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) Larvae

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1537-1540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Needler Arai ◽  
Douglas E. Hay
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Aurelia Aurita ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Aequorea Victoria ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi

In laboratory tests young Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) larvae were eaten by several species of hydromedusae common in coastal waters off British Columbia, including the previously controversial Sarsia tubulosa and by the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita. Field collections and observations confirmed that the distributions of medusae and larvae overlap and that some medusae feed on herring larvae in nature. In coastal waters and bays of British Columbia, the hydromedusae Sarsia tubulosa or Aequorea victoria may be most abundant during the time of peak herring larvae abundance.Key words: herring, larvae, Clupea, Sarsia, Aequorea, predation, medusae

Productivity of Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) in the Eastern Bering Sea under Various Patterns of Exploitation

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (S1) ◽  
pp. s181-s191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Fried ◽  
Vidar G. Wespestad
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
The United States ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Minimal Risk ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Mixed Stock ◽  
Spawning Biomass

Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) is a major food source for western Alaska native people and has been commercially exploited in the eastern Bering Sea since the early 1900's. Commercial harvests were small and localized in coastal waters until foreign factory fleets located and developed a fishery on wintering herring concentrations in the early 1960's. Harvests peaked near 150 000 t in the early 1970's and then declined along with catch per unit effort. Foreign harvests were eliminated following establishment of the United States 200 mile Fishery Conservation Zone. In recent years a fishery has developed in State of Alaska coastal waters which harvests herring for sac roe (ovaries) during the spring spawning period. Proposals have been put forth by trawl fishermen to reestablish a food and bait fishery within Federal waters. Development of offshore mixed stock fisheries has been opposed by inshore commercial and subsistence users who fear that stocks will be overexploited. While both State and Federal managers have agreed to give subsistence users and inshore domestic commercial fishermen top priority, they have been unable to agree upon plans for dealing with potential offshore commercial harvests. In this paper we present results of a computer model that we developed to examine effects of various fishing patterns upon herring productivity and yield. Within our model, maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is achieved at an exploitation rate (E) of 0.3 (i.e. harvest of 30% of total spawning biomass). However, since stocks still appear to be below MSY biomass and since productivity and yield drop sharply at E values greater than 0.3, we suggest that an E of 0.2 be maintained under current conditions. This will result in a potential loss in yield of only 7% from an E of 0.3, but will allow a 52% increase in spawning biomass. Four fishing patterns in which both discrete and mixed stock fishery removals were allowed to occur were also examined. During years in which inshore fisheries fail to harvest 20% of available spawning biomass, an offshore allocation of up to 10 000 t could be permitted with minimal risk to damaging the reproductive potential of small spawning stocks. However, results indicated that mixed stock fisheries should be restricted to lower levels than would be appropriate for fisheries targeting on discrete stocks to avoid risks of overharvesting some stocks.

A Record of Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) Feeding on Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in a British Columbia Estuary

1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 1921-1921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ito ◽  
R. R. Parker
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Juvenile Chinook Salmon ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Juvenile Chinook

An occurrence of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) predation on juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is described. This is the first recorded incidence of this particular predator–prey relation.

Reproductive Biology of Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi)

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (S1) ◽  
pp. s111-s126 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Hay
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Geographic Scale ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Egg Number ◽  
Spawning Time

Most British Columbia herring begin sexual maturation in the late summer and become sexually mature in the subsequent March or April. As they mature, most stocks migrate from summer feeding grounds to overwintering areas and then to shallow nearshore spawning areas. Also, newly recruited, sexually maturing fish join the adult spawning stocks, either on the summer or winter grounds. These events occur in an unpredictable environment. Consequently, reproduction in Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) may be viewed as a biological problem of maintaining synchrony and precision: specifically the synchronous maturation of (1) males and females and (2) the recruit spawners with the adult fish that have spawned in previous years. Biological precision is required to ensure that gametes are released at the correct place at the correct time. Further precision is required to achieve an appropriate balance between egg number and egg size, and then to control the density of eggs deposited on the bottom. The annual temperature regime is a vital regulator of these processes. Generally, the warmer the temperature, or lower the latitude, the earlier the maturation and spawning time. There are some notable exceptions that indicate local adaptation to other environmental cues. Also, experimental work indicates that food supply can affect the maturation rate. Intensities of egg depositions are generally similar among Pacific North American stocks, and indeed for many documented herring spawnings from Asian and European stocks. It has been shown that eggs in the middle of very thick spawns have lower survival so there is a selective advantage for biological mechanisms that ensure more even and lighter egg densities. This paper suggests that egg density in Pacific herring is controlled by a biological feedback mechanism involving milt concentration and hydrographic factors. Earlier spawners tend to be larger and there is a positive relationship between female size and egg size, a tendency consistent with other herring stocks and species. Size-adjusted fecundity, when compared among different regions and years, is strikingly uniform within British Columbia. On a broad geographic scale (California to Alaska), size-specific fecundity declines with latitude. Recent experimental work reveals that total egg number is higher at early stages of maturation and decreases as spawning time approaches. Presumably, this decrease reflects selective resorption of some developing oocytes, and probably occurs in response to available body energy. The duration and geographical variation in spawning time is relevant to questions concerning the evolutionary and taxonomic relationships between Pacific herring and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus). Other aspects of reproductive biology have important management implications, particularly for (1) predicting recruitment, (2) deriving stock estimates from spawn surveys, and (3) managing fisheries.

Distribution of Eggs by Depth and Vegetation Type in Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) Spawnings in Southern British Columbia

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Haegele ◽  
R. D. Humphreys ◽  
A. S. Hourston
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Beach Slope ◽  
Egg Deposition ◽  
Tidal Cycles ◽  
Egg Distribution ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Sea Grass

Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) spawn in southern British Columbia was surveyed by divers in 1976 and 1978. These surveys showed that the distribution of eggs is dependent on the type of vegetation on which the eggs are laid and on the slope of the beach. Most of the spawn on pure sea grass beds was deposited in the littoral zone. Spawn on mixtures of vegetation types was mostly sublittoral and the areal extent of these spawnings has been underestimated by surface surveys. To obtain a good estimate of egg deposition, diver surveys are required. Red algae were the major vegetation type for the study area, followed by sea grass, rockweed, kelp, and other brown algae. Eggs were deposited deeper as the beach slope became steeper. A small fraction of the total egg complement becomes exposed to air as a result of normal tidal cycles during the incubation period, and egg loss from predation and storms was estimated at 10%.Key words: Pacific herring, spawn, egg distribution, vegetation, depth, beach slope

Factors Influencing Development and Survival of Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) Eggs and Larvae to Beginning of Exogenous Feeding

1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (S1) ◽  
pp. s56-s68 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Alderdice ◽  
A. S. Hourston
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Salinity Tolerance ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Colloid Osmotic Pressure ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Upper Boundary

The euryplastic Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) generally encounters temperatures ranging between 0 and 10 °C throughout its distribution during the maturation and spawning of adults, incubation of eggs, and hatching of larvae. For many Asian stocks these events occur in the lower half of the temperature range; with North American stocks they tend to occur in the upper half of the range. In British Columbia waters, salinities associated with these events (range, optimum) are spawning (2.6–28.7‰, 27–28.7‰), [Formula: see text] fertilization of eggs (4.5–42‰, 12–15‰), and maximum total hatch and hatch of viable larvae (4.5–42‰, 12–17‰). A low/low–high/high interaction between salinity and temperature also influences total hatch, hatch of viable larvae, and salinity tolerance of larvae. In addition, the following implications arise regarding aspects of the Pacific herring reproductive cycle, based on previously published and new data, and on speculative inference. The response of Pacific herring to salinity and temperature appears to have a commanding influence on the reproductive cycle and, thereby, on distribution of the species. Survival of eggs on substrate, related to respiratory activity, appears to be influenced by the transport and perfusion velocity of interstitial water in an egg mass. Such transport may involve perivitelline fluid colloid osmotic pressure; natural convection; the surge associated with wave action, beach slope, and depth; and possibly differences in resistance to convective flow of deoxygenated water from an egg mass based on orientation of the substrate. These relations would be modified by variations in deposition intensity (number of egg layers) and packing density (eggs per unit volume), and both factors may affect survival of occluded eggs in an egg mass differentially, depending on the substrate used. A review of data on salinity tolerance of herring larvae indicates that a variety of dosage-mortality techiques has been used, leading to noncomparable estimates of response. An assessment of upper incipient lethal salinities will require standardization of such techniques. Recent studies show that salinity tolerance of larvae is influenced significantly by salinity–temperature conditions during egg incubation. At usual incubation conditions in British Columbia waters, the upper boundary of larval tolerance is estimated as 27.5–31.7‰ S (72-h LC10). depending on incubation history. The fate of Pacific herring larvae carried into the higher salinities of offshore waters has been controversial. In the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, substantial offshore dispersion of larvae occurs where surface conditions generally are 27–28.6‰ and 9–10 °C in the early larval period. Although these salinities are near the upper boundary of salinity tolerance, larvae sampled in offshore waters (1981) had an apparent mean age of 15 d and were actively feeding and growing. From rates of disappearance of larvae in the offshore waters (9% wk) and inshore waters (45% wk) we conclude that usual surface salinities and food supply in the open waters of the Strait were not a dominant influence on larval survival. Assuming the larvae remain in the upper 10 m, we suspect their disappearance, at least offshore, to be largely the result of predation.

An Evaluation of Morphometrics and Meristics for Stock Separation of Pacific Herring (Clupea harengus pallasi)

1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Jürg Meng ◽  
Max Stocker
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Geographic Scale ◽  
Meristic Characters ◽  
Morphometric Characters ◽  
Strait Of Georgia ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi

We conducted an analysis to determine if Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) stocks occurring in different localities in British Columbia waters could be separated using morphometric and meristic characters. Discriminant function analysis was applied to morphometric and meristic characters taken from food herring samples. Herring found in northern British Columbia waters were detectably different from those found in the Strait of Georgia. We recommend using meristic characters for separation on a broad geographic scale and using "best" morphometric characters for finer resolution within the established broader groups. We defined a set of 12 best morphometric characters for further large-scale studies.

Studies on the parasites of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi Valenciennes): survey results

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Arthur ◽  
H. P. Arai
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North American ◽  
Parasite Fauna ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Survey Results

The results of a survey of the parasite fauna of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi Valenciennes) conducted during the years 1975 to 1977 are presented. Thirty-two species (three Myxosporida, three Protozoa, two Monogenea, nine Digenea, three Cestoidea, six Nematoda, four Acanthocephala, and two Copepoda) are reported from examination of 175 juvenile and 594 adult herring collected from the waters off California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Among those parasites for which specific identifications could be made are five species previously unreported from the genus Clupea (metacercariae of Prosorhynchoides basargini (Layman, 1930) and Galactosomum phalacrocoracis Yamaguti, 1939; plerocercoids of Nybelinia surmenicola Okada in Dollfus, 1929; juvenile Corynosoma villosum Van Cleave, 1953; and Rhadinorhynchus trachuri Harada, 1935) and three species not previously reported from North American waters (Ortholinea orientalis (Shulman and Shulman-Albova, 1953); Gyrodactyloides petruschewskii Bykhowsky, 1947; and Gyrodactylus harengi Malmberg, 1957).

Predation on Fish Larvae and Eggs by the Hydromedusa Aequorea victoria at a Herring Spawning Ground in British Columbia

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1415-1427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Purcell
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Gut Content Analysis ◽  
Gut Content ◽  
Fish Eggs ◽  
Aequorea Victoria ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi ◽  
Pelagic Eggs ◽  
Eggs And Larvae

The importance of soft-bodied zooplankton as predators of fish eggs and larvae was examined during March–June, 1983 in Kulleet Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The diet of the jellyfish Aequorea victoria was evaluated by gut content analysis of individually collected specimens. Crustacean zooplankters were eaten in lesser proportion, and larvaceans, fish larvae, hydromedusae, and siphonophores were eaten in greater proportion than their presence in the environment. Numerous herring larvae (Clupea harengus pallasi) were consumed, as well as the larvae of fishes in several other families (primarily Pleuronectidae, Cottidae, Scorpaenidae, Stichaeidae, Pholidae, and Gadidae), and the pelagic eggs of flatfish (Family Pleuronectidae). When herring larvae hatched in mid-March, A. victoria medusae in the bay contained an average of 22 herring larvae each, comprising 48% of all ingested prey. The predation rates on herring and other fish larvae were calculated from the numbers of larvae in A. victoria, the digestion times, and the field densities of medusae and larvae. Accordingly, 4 newly-hatched herring larvae∙m−3∙d−1 (0.7%∙d−1) were consumed by A. victoria but few were eaten after April 5–6. Predation on other fish larvae was [Formula: see text] larvae∙m−3∙d−1 during April 5 to May 3, but was not detectable in samples collected during May 9 to June 7. Other soft-bodied predators (ctenophores, chaetognaths, siphonophores, and other hydromedusae) contained few fish larvae.

Fixation Shrinkage of Herring Larvae: Effects of Salinity, Formalin Concentration, and Other Factors

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1138-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Hay
Keyword(s):  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Pacific Herring ◽  
Larval Size ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Clupea Harengus Pallasi

The most important factors affecting the degree of larval shrinkage of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) larvae during fixation are the salinity and formalin concentrations and initial larval size. In low formalin concentrations (2–5% formalin) shrinkage increased from less than 2% shrinkage at low salinities to about 10% shrinkage in seawater formalin. In high formalin concentrations (20–30% formalin) shrinkage was fairly uniform, ranging from about 3% shrinkage in low salinities to about 5% in seawater. Shrinkage in fixatives stored at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 °C was slightly higher (1–2%) at the higher temperatures. Buffering agents and starvation had no effect on shrinkage. Small, young larvae shrank relatively more than larger older larvae.Key words: herring larvae, fixation, shrinkage, formalin, salinity

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