Variation in Age and Size in Fennoscandian Three-Spined Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Jacquelin DeFaveri, Juha Merilä
• Other Authors: University of Helsinki, Biosciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
• Subjects: General Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Medicine; Research Article; 1184 Genetics; developmental biology; physiology; 1181 Ecology; evolutionary biology; anthro-se; geo; Fennoscandian; Northern Finland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080866; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0080866&type=printable; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3834247/; https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3834247; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24260496/; https://core.ac.uk/display/43338367; https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013PLoSO.880866D/abstract; http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0080866; https://paperity.org/p/60715139/variation-in-age-and-size-in-fennoscandian-three-spined-sticklebacks-gasterosteus; https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/164270; https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2064894185; http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3834247; http://hdl.handle.net/10138/164270; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24260496/pdf/?tool=EBI

Average age and maximum life span of breeding adult three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were determined in eight Fennoscandian localities with the aid of skeletochronology. The average age varied from 1.8 to 3.6 years, and maximum life span from three to six years depending on the locality. On average, fish from marine populations were significantly older than those from freshwater populations, but variation within habitat types was large. We also found significant differences in mean body size among different habitat types and populations, but only the population differences remained significant after accounting for variation due to age effects. These results show that generation length and longevity in three-spined sticklebacks can vary significantly from one locality to another, and that population differences in mean body size cannot be explained as a simple consequence of differences in population age structure. We also describe a nanistic population from northern Finland exhibiting long life span and small body size.