individual spawning success in farmed and wild male Atlantic salmon

• Main Author: Salmo Salar
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.533.1282; http://myweb.dal.ca/jhutch/publications_pdfs/2004_wei_hut_jae.pdf

Variance in competitive ability among males should lead to a corresponding skew in reproductive success. Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar) males form dominance hierarchies during spawning, such that the dominant individuals are predicted to realize the highest reproductive success. However, the degree to which this occurs depends on various genetic and environmental factors. 2. We investigated the influence of the aquaculture environment on male Atlantic salmon behaviour during spawning in three experiments involving groups of either purely farmed or wild males, or mixed groups composed of equal numbers of farmed and wild fish. The objective of this study was to compare and contrast the formation of dominance hierarchies and relationships between aggression, courtship and spawning success in farmed and wild males.