Sexual and geographical variation in life history parameters of the shorthorn sculpin

A total of 293 shorthorn sculpins Myoxocephalus scorpius from Tromso, northern Norway, were sampled between November 1998 and April 1999 to determine sex, total length, age, growth, maturity and mortality. Females grew to larger sizes (L-infinity=26.9 v. 18.5 cm), matured later (2 v. 1 year of age)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Fish Biology
Main Authors: Luksenburg, JA, Pedersen, T
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/1381fd71-6c28-408e-a36a-c885a83e4d06
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/1381fd71-6c28-408e-a36a-c885a83e4d06
https://doi.org/10.1006/jfbi.2002.2159
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Summary:A total of 293 shorthorn sculpins Myoxocephalus scorpius from Tromso, northern Norway, were sampled between November 1998 and April 1999 to determine sex, total length, age, growth, maturity and mortality. Females grew to larger sizes (L-infinity=26.9 v. 18.5 cm), matured later (2 v. 1 year of age) at larger size (maturation length= 16 v. 14 cm L-T), and had lower instantaneous mortality rates (0.93 v. 1.20 year(-1)) than males. The life history parameters of shorthorn sculpins in northern Norway were more similar to the parameters of short-lived central European populations than to the parameters of the long-lived population of Newfoundland. This study confirms that northern Norwegian shorthorn sculpins exhibit sexual dimorphism as in other shorthorn sculpin populations. The relationships between growth pattern, age at maturity and mortality rates observed in the Tromso population and in other shorthorn sculpin populations, correspond well with the predictions from a published life history model. (C) 2002 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.