Size-Selective Mortality in Young-of-the-Year Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens): Evidence from Otolith Microstructure

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1840-1847 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Post ◽  
Andrew B. Prankevicius
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Otolith Microstructure ◽  
Selective Mortality ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Piscivorous Fish ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Growing Population

Large body size and high growth rates can strongly influence the survival of larval and juvenile fish during periods of intense predation pressure. Experimental evidence suggests that piscivorous fish often feed size selectively, but direct field evidence of size-selective mortality and of the effect of rapid growth on the intensity of size-selective mortality is limited. We used the growth record from otolith microstructure to test the hypothesis that young-of-the-year yellow perch (Perca flavescens) that survived their first growing season were the larger and faster growing members of their cohort. Strong size-selective mortality was identified within the first growing season for a slowly growing population. During the same year, a faster growing population showed minimal size-selective mortality. In contrasting the two populations, differences in predator species composition confounded the growth rate size-selectivity relationship, but it was clear that size-selective predation could be intense, favouring the survival of the faster growing individuals within a population.

Size-Dependent Overwinter Mortality of Young-of-the-Year Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens): Laboratory, In Situ Enclosure, and Field Experiments

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 1958-1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Post ◽  
David O. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Total Mortality ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Selective Mortality ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Overwinter Mortality

In laboratory experiments, fed and starved young-of-the-year yellow perch (Perca flavescens) lost weight when kept under simulated overwinter temperature and photoperiod regimes, small fish losing a greater proportion of their mass than larger ones. Perch in fed and starved treatments suffered 1 and 46% mortality, respectively, mortality being higher among the smaller individuals. Winter duration was an important determinant of both total mortality and the intensity of size-selective mortality. Size-selective mortality also occurred in yellow perch from the same stock kept overwinter in an in situ lake enclosure with natural food. Fall and spring population estimates for two cohorts of young-of-the-year yellow perch from Lake St. George also indicated the occurence of size-selective overwinter mortality. We present a quantitative technique for identification of size-dependent mortality and size-dependent growth from sequential length frequency distributions. This technique allowed identification of overwinter size-selective mortality for five natural cohorts sampled in the field. Results from a stochastic simulation model, incorporating observed variability in both first year growth and winter duration suggest that overwinter starvation mortality can cause substantial variability in year-class strength that is independent of adult stock size.

Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) and Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Populations and Fisheries of the Red Lakes, Minnesota, 1930–75

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1774-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd L. Smith Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Commercial Fishery ◽  
Class Strength ◽  
Parent Stock ◽  
Catch Statistics

In an investigation of the commercial fishery of Red Lakes, Minnesota, for the 46-yr period 1930–75, catch statistics were analyzed, and the dynamics of the perch and walleye populations were examined. Mean annual yields of walleye for two statistical periods, 1930–53 and 1954–75, were 309,900 and 245,100 kg, respectively for walleyes, and 96,400 and 109,500 kg for perch. Annual abundance (CPE based on average catches per day per 5-net units of gill nets) varied from 3.8 to 64.6 kg for walleye, and from 2.5 to 34.4 kg for perch. Causes of fluctuations in harvestable stock were directly related to strength of year-classes and to growth rate during the season of capture. Year-class strength was not related to the abundance of parent stock or of potential predators. The respective strengths of year-classes of perch and walleye in the same year were positively correlated (r = 0.859, P < 0.01), and are directly related to climatic factors. Growth rate of walleye in different calendar years varied from +30.7 to −42.2% of mean growth, and that of perch from +13.4 to −8.6% (1941–56). Growing season began in mid-June and was almost over by September 1. Walleye yield could be enhanced by starting harvest July 1 instead of early June. Perch yield could be improved by harvesting small perch. Key words: Percidae, Perca, population dynamics, Stizostedion, long-term yield

Responses of Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) and Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) Populations to Removal of White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) from a Minnesota Lake, 1966

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1633-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Standing Crop ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Food Competition ◽  
Community Response ◽  
Stizostedion Vitreum ◽  
Catostomus Commersoni ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Fish Species Diversity

In a northeastern Minnesota lake subject only to sportfishing, removal of 85% of the estimated standing crop (34 kg/ha) of adult white suckers, Catostomus commersoni in 1966 was followed by marked changes in community structure and interrelations. During 7 yr alter the removal: catch indices for adult suckers remained far below those before the sucker removal but juvenile suckers increased about 17-fold; yellow perch, Perca flavescens, increased about 15-fold; walleye Stizostedion vitreum vitreum, standing crop increased about one-third; mayflies increased in diet of adult perch and smaller invertebrates decreased; micro-crustaceans increased in diet of young-of-the-year and juvenile perch; young-of-the-year perch increased in diet of adult walleye; walleye angling yield increased from an average of 3.0 kg/ha before the removal to an average of 4.9 kg/ha in 1970–73; the rate of exploitation of adult walleye did not change with increase in angling effort; and the increased walleye harvest consisted mostly of fish recruited to the catch during the fishing season. The average annual harvest of walleye in 1970–73 exceeded estimated potential production for all fish by 81.5% and probably cannot be sustained. Removal of white suckers from lakes with limited fish species diversity appears to benefit percid populations. Key words: Percidae, species interactions, (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum), Perca flavescens, Catostomus commersoni, harvests, community response, community ecology, food, competition

Disruption of the hypothalamo-pituitary-interrenal axis in 1+ yellow perch (Perca flavescens) chronically exposed to metals in the environment

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 982-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gravel ◽  
P GC Campbell ◽  
A Hontela
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Hepatosomatic Index ◽  
Physiological Status ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
First Time ◽  
Cu And Zn

Although it has been reported that adult yellow perch (Perca flavescens) chronically exposed to metals in the environment exhibit endocrine impairment characterized by blunted cortisol secretion, little is known about the vulnerability of early life stages. Young-of-the-year (YOY) and 1+ yellow perch were captured, subjected to a standardized stress test or adrenocorticotropic-hormone stimulation in lakes situated along a contamination gradient of Cd, Cu, and Zn in the mining region of Abitibi, Quebec. For the first time, whole-body cortisol concentrations were measured. The 1+ fish with elevated whole-body Cd, Cu, and Zn concentrations had an impaired capacity to respond to an acute stress challenge. Although YOY perch had similar whole-body Cd concentrations to 1+ perch, no effects on physiological status were detected in relation to body burdens of metals. Metal contamination did not affect whole-body thyroid-hormone concentrations, condition factor, or hepatosomatic index in 1+ or YOY perch. These results indicate that effects of Cd, Cu, and Zn on the functional integrity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-interrenal axis in yellow perch are detectable after only 1 year of environmental exposure.

Effects of colonizing predators on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations in lakes recovering from acidification and metal stress

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 1413-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly A Lippert ◽  
John M Gunn ◽  
George E Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Metal Stress ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Energy Investment ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Body Form ◽  
Diet Shifts ◽  
Antipredator Strategy

We examined the effects of predator species on yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from lakes in the Sudbury mining region (Ontario, Canada), where fish communities are just beginning to recover from the effects of decades of acidification and metal stress. The predation regimes investigated included six lakes with no predators, four lakes recently invaded (≤3 years) by predators, and eight lakes with well-established (≥15 years) predator populations. Netting survey results indicated that yellow perch biomass was 69% lower in lakes with predators. In lakes recently invaded by predators, perch displayed earlier ontogenetic diet shifts from zooplankton to benthos and much poorer growth during their first growing season. Energy investment (lipid content per egg) in eggs by mature females was also less in the lakes recently invaded by predators. Growth potential in adult perch (age 1), estimated by nucleoside diphosphokinase, was highest in lakes with established predators. Body condition, controlling for size of perch, was also greatest in established predator lakes. Perch body shape in lakes with predators showed a shift from a typical streamlined, pelagic body form towards a deeper-bodied benthic body form, a change that may increase foraging efficiency for benthos or represent an antipredator strategy.

Cyclic dynamics of a yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population in an oligotrophic lake: evidence for the role of intraspecific interactions

1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1534-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth L Sanderson ◽  
Thomas R Hrabik ◽  
John J Magnuson ◽  
David M Post
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Intraspecific Interactions ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Cyclic Dynamics ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Mature Fish

Understanding the extent to which repeated oscillations in fish populations are driven by external factors or internal processes within the population is an important challenge. We document cyclic dynamics in a population of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in oligotrophic Crystal Lake. Since 1981, we have observed three cases of cohort dominance in which two age-classes dominated the population for roughly 5 years. Young-of-the-year (YOY) perch were caught in 1981-1982, 1986-1987, and 1990-1991, whereas few to no YOY were caught during the midyears. The presence of YOY was negatively related to juvenile perch abundance and positively related to adult perch abundance. Mechanisms that may be responsible for these patterns include cannibalism of YOY by either juveniles or adults, potential for reproduction by adults, and competition between YOY and juveniles. YOY were abundant primarily in years when reproductively mature fish were in the lake, suggesting that the repeated oscillations are driven predominantly by pulses of abundant, reproductive, adult perch. As these young perch grow to juveniles, they exclude the possibility of survival by successive cohorts through cannibalistic and competitive interactions. This exclusion occurs until they themselves become reproductively mature and the cycle then repeats. Ultimately, long-term patterns in Crystal Lake suggest that cyclic dynamics are generated by intraspecific interactions.

The invasion route of the gill parasite Urocleidus adspectus Mueller, 1936 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalinae)

1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 2166-2171 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Cone ◽  
M. D. B. Burt
Keyword(s):  
Body Surface ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
The Body ◽  
Full Length ◽  
Gill Parasite ◽  
Young Of The Year

Urocleidus adspectus is transmitted experimentally to yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and the route of invasion and the behaviour of the parasite during the migration to the gills of the host is studied.The oncomiracidia invade the full length of the host and. as postoncomiracidia, attach at secluded sites such as beneath scales, at the base of fins, and in nooks in the body surface. The postoncomiracidia gradually migrate anteriorly and reach the gills by entering the opercular cavity and possibly the buccal cavity. In young-of-the-year perch, migrating worms appear to invade the primary lamella from the base or from the distal tip. In older perch the majority appear to invade the primary lamella from the base. Over 90% of the postoncomiracidia reach the gills of the young perch by day 5 postinfection and experimental studies indicate that few worms are dislodged during the migration.

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