Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish

Mortality during the early stages is a major cause of the natural variations in the size and recruitment strength of marine fish populations. In this study, the relation between the size-at-hatch and early survival was assessed using laboratory experiments and on field-caught larvae of the European...

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Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Garrido, Susana, Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan, Santos, A. Miguel P., Ferreira, S., M A Teodosio, Cotano, U., Irigoien, X., Peck, M. A., Saiz, E., Re, P.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11440
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17065
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spelling ftunivalgarve:oai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/11440 2023-05-15T15:27:44+02:00 Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish Garrido, Susana Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan Santos, A. Miguel P. Ferreira, S. M A Teodosio Cotano, U. Irigoien, X. Peck, M. A. Saiz, E. Re, P. 2015 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11440 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17065 eng eng Nature Publishing Group info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/3599-PPCDT/111304/PT info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/SFRH/SFRH%2FBPD%2F38332%2F2007/PT info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/3599-PPCDT/98643/PT info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/227799/EU 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11440 doi:10.1038/srep17065 openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Sardine Sardina-Pilchardus Cod Gadus-Morhua Early-life-history Atlantic cod Clupea-Harengus Egg size Postsettlement survivorship Recruitment variability Growth Temperature article 2015 ftunivalgarve https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17065 2022-05-30T08:48:17Z Mortality during the early stages is a major cause of the natural variations in the size and recruitment strength of marine fish populations. In this study, the relation between the size-at-hatch and early survival was assessed using laboratory experiments and on field-caught larvae of the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Larval size-at-hatch was not related to the egg size but was significantly, positively related to the diameter of the otolith-at-hatch. Otolith diameter-athatch was also significantly correlated with survival-at-age in fed and unfed larvae in the laboratory. For sardine larvae collected in the Bay of Biscay during the spring of 2008, otolith radius-at-hatch was also significantly related to viability. Larval mortality has frequently been related to adverse environmental conditions and intrinsic factors affecting feeding ability and vulnerability to predators. Our study offers evidence indicating that a significant portion of fish mortality occurs during the endogenous (yolk) and mixed (yolk /prey) feeding period in the absence of predators, revealing that marine fish with high fecundity, such as small pelagics, can spawn a relatively large amount of eggs resulting in small larvae with no chances to survive. Our findings help to better understand the mass mortalities occurring at early stages of marine fish. Project VITAL [PTDC/MAR/111304/2009]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/38332/2007]; project MODELA [PTDC/MAR/098643/2008]; EU [227799] info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper atlantic cod Gadus morhua Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta Scientific Reports 5 1
institution Open Polar
collection Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta
op_collection_id ftunivalgarve
language English
topic Sardine Sardina-Pilchardus
Cod Gadus-Morhua
Early-life-history
Atlantic cod
Clupea-Harengus
Egg size
Postsettlement survivorship
Recruitment variability
Growth
Temperature
spellingShingle Sardine Sardina-Pilchardus
Cod Gadus-Morhua
Early-life-history
Atlantic cod
Clupea-Harengus
Egg size
Postsettlement survivorship
Recruitment variability
Growth
Temperature
Garrido, Susana
Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan
Santos, A. Miguel P.
Ferreira, S.
M A Teodosio
Cotano, U.
Irigoien, X.
Peck, M. A.
Saiz, E.
Re, P.
Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
topic_facet Sardine Sardina-Pilchardus
Cod Gadus-Morhua
Early-life-history
Atlantic cod
Clupea-Harengus
Egg size
Postsettlement survivorship
Recruitment variability
Growth
Temperature
description Mortality during the early stages is a major cause of the natural variations in the size and recruitment strength of marine fish populations. In this study, the relation between the size-at-hatch and early survival was assessed using laboratory experiments and on field-caught larvae of the European sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Larval size-at-hatch was not related to the egg size but was significantly, positively related to the diameter of the otolith-at-hatch. Otolith diameter-athatch was also significantly correlated with survival-at-age in fed and unfed larvae in the laboratory. For sardine larvae collected in the Bay of Biscay during the spring of 2008, otolith radius-at-hatch was also significantly related to viability. Larval mortality has frequently been related to adverse environmental conditions and intrinsic factors affecting feeding ability and vulnerability to predators. Our study offers evidence indicating that a significant portion of fish mortality occurs during the endogenous (yolk) and mixed (yolk /prey) feeding period in the absence of predators, revealing that marine fish with high fecundity, such as small pelagics, can spawn a relatively large amount of eggs resulting in small larvae with no chances to survive. Our findings help to better understand the mass mortalities occurring at early stages of marine fish. Project VITAL [PTDC/MAR/111304/2009]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/38332/2007]; project MODELA [PTDC/MAR/098643/2008]; EU [227799] info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Garrido, Susana
Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan
Santos, A. Miguel P.
Ferreira, S.
M A Teodosio
Cotano, U.
Irigoien, X.
Peck, M. A.
Saiz, E.
Re, P.
author_facet Garrido, Susana
Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan
Santos, A. Miguel P.
Ferreira, S.
M A Teodosio
Cotano, U.
Irigoien, X.
Peck, M. A.
Saiz, E.
Re, P.
author_sort Garrido, Susana
title Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
title_short Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
title_full Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
title_fullStr Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
title_full_unstemmed Born small, die young: Intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
title_sort born small, die young: intrinsic, size-selective mortality in marine larval fish
publisher Nature Publishing Group
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11440
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17065
genre atlantic cod
Gadus morhua
genre_facet atlantic cod
Gadus morhua
op_relation info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/3599-PPCDT/111304/PT
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/SFRH/SFRH%2FBPD%2F38332%2F2007/PT
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/3599-PPCDT/98643/PT
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/227799/EU
2045-2322
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11440
doi:10.1038/srep17065
op_rights openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_rightsnorm CC-BY
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17065
container_title Scientific Reports
container_volume 5
container_issue 1
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