Increment Widths (increment + width)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The growth,mortality relationship in larval cohorts of Sardinops melanostictus, revealed by using two new approaches to analyse longitudinal data from otoliths

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 7 2008
G. Plaza
The growth,mortality relationship was assessed for larval cohorts of the Japanese sardine Sardinops melanostictus using two new approaches: (1) repeat measures in general linear model (RM-GLMs) and (2) the autoregressive-individual method (AIM). Both methods were compared to the traditional approach in which repeat-measure ANOVA was used to compare the changes in increment width (WI) at age and otolith radii (RO) at age between individuals from an original population and survivors. In RM-GLMs, both the WI at age and RO at age (i.e. at 5, 10, 15 and 20 days) were used as the dependent variables, and the standardized residuals of both regressions RO and age and RO and total length (LT), age class, and day of the year as independent variables. A significant increase in WI at age and RO at age from younger to older age classes was seen as indicative of growth-dependent selection. In AIM, the RO -at-age relationship for each fish was fitted for the first 20 days, using autoregression, and then the growth traits (i.e. slopes) between the original cohorts and survivors were compared using ANOVA. In the traditional approach, the WI at age and RO at age for the first 20 days of an original population were compared with those of survivors sampled in later stages. GLMs and traditional approaches supported the growth rate (i.e. the faster an individual grows, the higher its probability of survival) and bigger is better (i.e. larger individuals at any given age will have lower probability of mortality than smaller individuals of the same age) mechanisms. Furthermore, AIM showed that individuals from original cohorts had lower otolith growth rates than those from survivors, giving further support for the growth,mortality hypothesis for the larval stage of this clupeid. [source]


Growth of juvenile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus L. from Lakes Zwai, Langeno and Chamo (Ethiopian rift valley) based on otolith microincrement analysis

ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 3 2000
D. Admassu
Abstract , Age and growth of juvenile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus, from Lakes Zwai, Langeno and Chamo (Ethiopia) were studied from microincrements in otoliths. Growth in length was best described by the Gompertz model. Average growth rate of the fish was most rapid in Lake Chamo (0.39 mm,ˇ,day,1, 1.14%,ˇ,day,1), intermediate in Lake Zwai (0.20 mm,ˇ,day,1, 0.72%,ˇ,day,1) and slowest in Lake Langeno (0.16 mm,ˇ,day,1, 0.62%,ˇ,day,1). Similarly, back-calculation from otolith increment widths gave growth rates of 0.28 to 0.43 mm,ˇ,day,1, 0.15 to 0.32 mm,ˇ,day,1 and 0.11 to 0.28 mm,ˇ,day,1 for Chamo, Zwai and Langeno fish, respectively. In addition, Fulton's condition factor was largest for Chamo tilapia and smallest for Langeno tilapia; the difference between fish from Langeno and Zwai was small. Rapid growth of juvenile O. niloticus in Lake Chamo was attributed to warm temperature and better food quality., [source]


Establishing climate,growth relationships for yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) in the northeast Pacific using a dendrochronological approach

FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 5 2008
BRYAN A. BLACK
Abstract We applied dendrochronology (tree-ring) methods to develop multidecadal growth chronologies from the increment widths of yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) otoliths. Chronologies were developed for the central California coast, a site just north of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and at Bowie Seamount west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. At each site, synchronous growth patterns were matched among otoliths via the process of cross-dating, ensuring that the correct calendar year was assigned to all increments. Each time series of growth-increment measurements was divided by the values predicted by a best-fit negative exponential function, thereby removing age-related trends. These detrended time series were averaged into a master chronology for each site, and chronologies were correlated with monthly averages of sea surface temperatures, upwelling, the Northern Oscillation Index, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The two northern growth chronologies positively correlated with indices of warm ocean conditions, especially from the prior summer through the spring of the current year. During the same period, the California chronology positively correlated with indices of cool ocean conditions, indicating an opposing productivity regime for yelloweye rockfish between the California Current and the Gulf of Alaska. Overall, this study demonstrates how tree-ring techniques can be applied to quickly develop annually resolved chronologies and establish climate,growth relationships across various temporal and spatial scales. [source]


A spatially explicit study of prey,predator interactions in larval fish: assessing the influence of food and predator abundance on larval growth and survival

FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2003
P. Pepin
Abstract We apply a coupled biophysical model to reconstruct the environmental history of larval radiated shanny in Conception Bay, Newfoundland. Data on the larvae, their prey and predators were collected during a 2-week period. Our goal was to determine whether environmentally explicit information could be used to infer the characteristics of individual larvae that are most likely to survive. Backward drift reconstruction was used to assess the influence of variations in the feeding environment on changes in the growth rates of individual larvae. Forward drift projections were used to assess the impact of predators on mortality rates as well as the cumulative density distribution of growth rates in the population of larvae in different areas of the bay. There was relatively little influence of current feeding conditions on increment widths. Patterns of selective mortality indicate that fast-growing individuals suffered higher mortality rates, suggesting they were growing into a predator's prey field. However, the mortality rates appeared to increase with decreasing predator abundance, based on the drift reconstructions. The relationship of growth and mortality with environmental conditions suggests that short-term, small-scale variations in environmental history may be difficult to describe accurately in this relatively small system (,1000 km2). [source]


Validation of daily increment formation in otoliths of juvenile and adult European anchovy

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2003
P. Cermeņo
The otoliths of juveniles and adults of European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus held in aquaria were marked by immersion in oxytetracycline hydrochloride (OTC) at concentrations between 350 and 410 mg l,1 for 12 h. Counts of microincrements between fluorescent bands validated the daily otolith increment formation. The otolith increments were easily readable at ×400 with average increment widths of c. 1ˇ1 ĩm. Validation was successfully demonstrated in juveniles and adults maintained for short periods in the aquaria in the summer. For European anchovy captured as juvenile and reared to adults, however, increment formation appeared less than daily. The daily periodicity of the otoliths in juvenile European anchovy implies that counting of microincrements can be used to study their birth dates. The application of this technique to adults, however, may lead to the underestimation of actual age and further research needs to be done to clarify the reasons for the apparent loss of the daily rhythm over long periods. [source]