Individual variation in competitive performance of juvenile cod and its consequences for growth

• Published in: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
• Main Authors: Hart, Paul J.B., Salvanes, Anne Gro V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2000
• Subjects: Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002531540000237x; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002531540000237X

This communication reports on experiments, which studied the variation in competitive performance of juvenile cod ( Gadus morhua L.) and their growth rates. The fish were held in groups of five in either summer or winter conditions and tested for their individual response to prey offered sequentially. There was marked individual variability. Fish that took the highest share of prey tended also to be those that took prey earlier than others. In winter conditions these fish were the largest, but in summer conditions size had no effect. There was a positive influence of the indices of competitive performance on individual growth rate but the relationship was not significant