Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA
Coastal fishes of the western North Atlantic, such as sciaenids and their competitors, support substantial commercial and recreational fisheries in waters that may vary widely in temperature, salinity, light intensity and spectral distrubution, and dissolved oxygen levels, yet their ecophysiological...
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ftwilliammarycol:oai:scholarworks.wm.edu:etd-2266 2023-06-11T04:14:34+02:00 Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA Horodysky, Andrij Z. 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539616699 https://doi.org/10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/etd/article/2266/viewcontent/3378041.pdf English eng W&M ScholarWorks https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539616699 doi:doi:10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/etd/article/2266/viewcontent/3378041.pdf © The Author Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Ecology and Evolutionary Biology text 2009 ftwilliammarycol https://doi.org/10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 2023-05-04T17:56:55Z Coastal fishes of the western North Atlantic, such as sciaenids and their competitors, support substantial commercial and recreational fisheries in waters that may vary widely in temperature, salinity, light intensity and spectral distrubution, and dissolved oxygen levels, yet their ecophysiological abilities to cope with such variability have received little attention. I therefore applied multidisciplinary comparative techniques to investigate aspects of the sensory and energetic ecophysiology of several sciaenid fishes and non-sciaenid competitors common in the western North Atlantic. Auditory brainstem response experiments demonstrated that sciaenid fishes have greatest auditory sensitivity at low frequencies that match their vocalizations. Based upon both anatomy and auditory bandwidths, most sciaenids appear to be hearing generalists that are likely sensitive to the particle motion components of aquatic sounds. Electroretinographic experiments revealed that the luminous sensitivities, temporal properties, and chromatic characteristics of the visual systems of phylogenetically-similar sciaenid fishes from different microhabitats, and those of phylogenetically-dissimilar piscivores from similar microhabitats, all correlated with lifestyle and ecology. The eyes of benthic and nocturnal fishes were typified by high luminous sensitivity, slow temporal resolution, and relative diel-invariance, consistent with foraging in dim photoclimates. By contrast, the eyes of pelagic diurnal piscivores had comparatively lower luminous sensitivity, higher temporal resolution, and exhibited higher diel variation, consistent with specific diurnal light niches. Accordingly, visually-foraging diurnal piscivores may be disadvantaged in eutrophied, turbid waters characteristic of many modern estuaries. Intermittent-flow respirometry experiments revealed that the majority of sciaenid fishes had resting and active metabolic rates similar to those of most teleost fishes but significantly lower than high-demand species such as tunas. ... Text North Atlantic W&M ScholarWorks |
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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
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Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Horodysky, Andrij Z. Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
topic_facet |
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology |
description |
Coastal fishes of the western North Atlantic, such as sciaenids and their competitors, support substantial commercial and recreational fisheries in waters that may vary widely in temperature, salinity, light intensity and spectral distrubution, and dissolved oxygen levels, yet their ecophysiological abilities to cope with such variability have received little attention. I therefore applied multidisciplinary comparative techniques to investigate aspects of the sensory and energetic ecophysiology of several sciaenid fishes and non-sciaenid competitors common in the western North Atlantic. Auditory brainstem response experiments demonstrated that sciaenid fishes have greatest auditory sensitivity at low frequencies that match their vocalizations. Based upon both anatomy and auditory bandwidths, most sciaenids appear to be hearing generalists that are likely sensitive to the particle motion components of aquatic sounds. Electroretinographic experiments revealed that the luminous sensitivities, temporal properties, and chromatic characteristics of the visual systems of phylogenetically-similar sciaenid fishes from different microhabitats, and those of phylogenetically-dissimilar piscivores from similar microhabitats, all correlated with lifestyle and ecology. The eyes of benthic and nocturnal fishes were typified by high luminous sensitivity, slow temporal resolution, and relative diel-invariance, consistent with foraging in dim photoclimates. By contrast, the eyes of pelagic diurnal piscivores had comparatively lower luminous sensitivity, higher temporal resolution, and exhibited higher diel variation, consistent with specific diurnal light niches. Accordingly, visually-foraging diurnal piscivores may be disadvantaged in eutrophied, turbid waters characteristic of many modern estuaries. Intermittent-flow respirometry experiments revealed that the majority of sciaenid fishes had resting and active metabolic rates similar to those of most teleost fishes but significantly lower than high-demand species such as tunas. ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Horodysky, Andrij Z. |
author_facet |
Horodysky, Andrij Z. |
author_sort |
Horodysky, Andrij Z. |
title |
Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
title_short |
Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
title_full |
Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
title_fullStr |
Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in Chesapeake Bay, VA |
title_sort |
comparative sensory and energetic ecology of sciaenid fishes and their competitors in chesapeake bay, va |
publisher |
W&M ScholarWorks |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539616699 https://doi.org/10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/etd/article/2266/viewcontent/3378041.pdf |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects |
op_relation |
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539616699 doi:doi:10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 https://scholarworks.wm.edu/context/etd/article/2266/viewcontent/3378041.pdf |
op_rights |
© The Author |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.25773/v5-wdtk-qy37 |
_version_ |
1768392680544403456 |