Planktivorous Baltic Herring (Clupea harengus) Prey Selectively on Reproducing Copepods and Cladocerans

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Flinkman ◽  
Ilppo Vuorinen ◽  
Eero Aro
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
Gulf Of Bothnia ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Plankton Species

Plankton and Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) were sampled simultaneously at nine sites in the northern Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia. The stomachs from 45 herring and 54 plankton samples were analysed. The prey consisted mainly of adult mesozooplankters: copepods and cladocerans. Larger zooplankters (mysids and amphipods) were very rare in the stomachs as were the younger stages (copepodids) of copepods. The stomach contents of the fish changed from brackish water and neritic plankton species in the northern Baltic Proper to limnic species in the northern part of the Bothnian Sea. The diversity of plankton species decreased along with the salinity from south to north. Comparison of the plankton samples and herring stomach contents showed that prey with a large body size was selected as food. Generally this resulted in female copepods being chosen, since they are larger than males of the same species. Especially preferred food items were species and stages which carried conspicuous egg sacs (Eurytemora affinis females) or pigmented eggs and embryos (Bosmina longispina, Podon spp). Our results suggest that the Baltic herring is capable of exerting a regulative effect on the prey population comparable with that found in freshwater planktivores.

scholarly journals Decreasing salinity improves the feeding conditions of the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) during spring in the Bothnian Sea, northern Baltic

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148-1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Rajasilta ◽  
J. Hänninen ◽  
I. Vuorinen
Keyword(s):  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
Important Link ◽  
Limnocalanus Macrurus ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Bothnian Sea

Abstract The stomach contents of the herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) from the Bothnian Sea, northern Baltic, were analysed during spring 2011 and 2013. The stomachs were full of Limnocalanus macrurus in May and June, and an improvement in the condition of herring was observed when fish started to feed on this prey. The analyses showed that Limnocalanus is currently an important link between lower trophic levels and Baltic herring in the Bothnian Sea.

scholarly journals Predation by herring (Clupea harengus) and sprat (Sprattus sprattus) on Cercopagis pengoi in a western Baltic Sea bay

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 959-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Gorokhova ◽  
Towe Fagerberg ◽  
Sture Hansson
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Zooplanktivorous Fish ◽  
Cercopagis Pengoi ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract Cercopagis pengoi is a pelagic cladoceran that has recently colonized the Baltic Sea and the Laurentian Great Lakes and is recognized as a species with the potential to affect natural foodwebs. To study the consumption of C. pengoi by zooplanktivorous fish, stomach contents of herring (size range 52–252 mm) and sprat (57–116 mm) from a coastal area of the northern Baltic proper were examined in parallel with zooplankton samples. The overall proportion of fish preying on C. pengoi was high both for sprat (70%) and for herring (61%), and it accounted for 8 ± 23% and 20 ± 33% of prey dry weight in the diets. The predation on Cercopagis depends on its abundance and on fish size; herring showed a tendency to become more selective for Cercopagis with increasing size. The majority of diapause eggs found in sprat (69%) were immature and appeared digested, while this was the case only for 2% of the eggs found in herring. These results suggest that Cercopagis has become a significant component in the diet of zooplanktivorous fish and, therefore, its abundance may be controlled by fish predation.

In-situ observations of Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) spawning behaviour in the Ask�-Landsort area, northern Baltic proper

1983 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Aneer ◽  
G. Florell ◽  
U. Kautsky ◽  
S. Nellbring ◽  
L. Sj�stedt
Keyword(s):  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
Spawning Behaviour ◽  
Baltic Proper ◽  
In Situ Observations

Influence of environmental conditions, population density, and prey type on the lipid content in Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) from the northern Baltic Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjut Rajasilta ◽  
Jari Hänninen ◽  
Lea Laaksonen ◽  
Päivi Laine ◽  
Jukka-Pekka Suomela ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Lipid Content ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Composition Analysis ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
The Baltic

Global climate change can affect the energy content of fish by altering their lipid physiology and consumption. We investigated the effects of different environmental stressors on the lipid content of the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) from spawning ground samples that were collected annually in the northern Baltic Sea. During 1987–2014, the average lipid content of herring muscle decreased from 5%–6% (wet mass) to 1.5% (wet mass). Generalized linear mixed models indicated that sea water salinity and the size of the herring stock explained best the declining trend of lipid content. We estimated that the amount of the lipid storage incorporated in the spawning stock decreased by approximately 45% during the study, with respective energy content decreases. Fatty acid composition analysis revealed that herring lipids contained a high proportion of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid; 20:5n-3) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid; 22:6n-3), which likely originated from its main summertime prey, Limnocalanus macrurus. The results illustrate various climate change-induced processes leading to changes in the lipid content of the Baltic herring and, consequently, to changes in the energy flows of the northern Baltic ecosystem.

scholarly journals Structure and Characterization of Phosphoglucomutase 5 from Atlantic and Baltic Herring—An Inactive Enzyme with Intact Substrate Binding

Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1631
Author(s):  
Robert Gustafsson ◽  
Ulrich Eckhard ◽  
Weihua Ye ◽  
Erik D. Enbody ◽  
Mats Pettersson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzymatic Activity ◽  
Active Site ◽  
Muscle Protein ◽  
Substrate Binding ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Metabolic Enzyme ◽  
Structure Comparison ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
The Baltic

Phosphoglucomutase 5 (PGM5) in humans is known as a structural muscle protein without enzymatic activity, but detailed understanding of its function is lacking. PGM5 belongs to the alpha-D-phosphohexomutase family and is closely related to the enzymatically active metabolic enzyme PGM1. In the Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, PGM5 is one of the genes strongly associated with ecological adaptation to the brackish Baltic Sea. We here present the first crystal structures of PGM5, from the Atlantic and Baltic herring, differing by a single substitution Ala330Val. The structure of PGM5 is overall highly similar to structures of PGM1. The structure of the Baltic herring PGM5 in complex with the substrate glucose-1-phosphate shows conserved substrate binding and active site compared to human PGM1, but both PGM5 variants lack phosphoglucomutase activity under the tested conditions. Structure comparison and sequence analysis of PGM5 and PGM1 from fish and mammals suggest that the lacking enzymatic activity of PGM5 is related to differences in active-site loops that are important for flipping of the reaction intermediate. The Ala330Val substitution does not alter structure or biophysical properties of PGM5 but, due to its surface-exposed location, could affect interactions with protein-binding partners.

scholarly journals Discrimination of western Baltic spring-spawning and central Baltic herring (Clupea harengus L.) based on growth vs. natural tag information

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1108-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Gröhsler ◽  
Rainer Oeberst ◽  
Matthias Schaber ◽  
Niklas Larson ◽  
Georgs Kornilovs
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Commercial Fisheries ◽  
Survey Area ◽  
Separation Function ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Quick Method ◽  
Baltic Herring ◽  
Abundance Indices ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract Gröhsler, T., Oeberst, R., Schaber, M., Larson, N., and Kornilovs, G. 2013. Discrimination of western Baltic spring-spawning and central Baltic herring (Clupea harengus L.) based on growth vs. natural tag information. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 1108–1117. In the Baltic Sea, several stocks of herring (Clupea harengus L.) are surveyed and managed separately. For assessment purposes, a spatial stock separation based on ICES subdivisions is implemented. However, especially in the western Baltic, the distribution areas of two stocks, the western Baltic spring-spawning herring and the central Baltic herring, overlap. Results of regularly conducted surveys for assessment purposes indicated variable degrees of mixing of both stocks in the survey area, based on conspicuous differences in weights/lengths within certain age groups, especially in an area known for overlapping distribution of both stocks. At present, varying fractions of the central Baltic herring stock have not been taken into account during regular surveys conducted in the western Baltic, leading to possible undetected biases in assessment indices derived from these surveys. Additionally, methods otherwise applied for stock separation of Baltic herring so far are based on parameters that cannot readily be derived during regular surveys. In this paper, we present a simple and quick method to reliably allocate herring to either stock based on a separation function derived from survey-based length-at-age data, thus facilitating a more precise estimate of biomass and abundance indices from regular surveys and commercial fisheries.

scholarly journals Cranial biomechanics underpins high sauropod diversity in resource-poor environments

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1795) ◽  
pp. 20142114 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Button ◽  
Emily J. Rayfield ◽  
Paul M. Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Morrison Formation ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Resource Poor ◽  
Insight Into

High megaherbivore species richness is documented in both fossil and contemporary ecosystems despite their high individual energy requirements. An extreme example of this is the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, which was dominated by sauropod dinosaurs, the largest known terrestrial vertebrates. High sauropod diversity within the resource-limited Morrison is paradoxical, but might be explicable through sophisticated resource partitioning. This hypothesis was tested through finite-element analysis of the crania of the Morrison taxa Camarasaurus and Diplodocus . Results demonstrate divergent specialization, with Camarasaurus capable of exerting and accommodating greater bite forces than Diplodocus , permitting consumption of harder food items. Analysis of craniodental biomechanical characters taken from 35 sauropod taxa demonstrates a functional dichotomy in terms of bite force, cranial robustness and occlusal relationships yielding two polyphyletic functional ‘grades’. Morrison taxa are widely distributed within and between these two morphotypes, reflecting distinctive foraging specializations that formed a biomechanical basis for niche partitioning between them. This partitioning, coupled with benefits associated with large body size, would have enabled the high sauropod diversities present in the Morrison Formation. Further, this provides insight into the mechanisms responsible for supporting the high diversities of large megaherbivores observed in other Mesozoic and Cenozoic communities, particularly those occurring in resource-limited environments.

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