Offspring investment in wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): relationships with smolt age and spawning condition

• Published in: Ecology of Freshwater Fish
• Main Authors: Burton, T., McKelvey, S., Stewart, D.C., Armstrong, J.D., Metcalfe, N.B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2013
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/78636/

We investigated the independent effects of age at smolting and body condition at the time of spawning on egg production by female Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). For a given body size, female salmon that had smolted as juveniles after 2 years in fresh water produced smaller, more numerous eggs than females that smolted 1 year later. Furthermore, fecundity (but not egg size) was related positively to maternal body condition at spawning. Given that age at smolting is closely related to juvenile growth rate; results from this study suggest that conditions experienced by female Atlantic salmon during both early life and adulthood have implications for the size and number of eggs that they produce.