Comparative nutritional condition of larval dab Limanda limanda and lesser sandeel Ammodytes marinus in a highly variable environment.

Malzahn, Arne M., Clemmesen, Catriona , Wiltshire, Karen H., Laakmann, Silde and Boersma, Maarten (2007) Comparative nutritional condition of larval dab Limanda limanda and lesser sandeel Ammodytes marinus in a highly variable environment. Open Access Marine Ecology Progress Series, 334 . pp. 205-212. DOI 10.3354/meps334205.

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Abstract

We investigated the nutritional condition of larval fishes caught in daily ichthyoplankton hauls in the ‘Helgoland Roads’ (54°11.18’N and 07°54.00’E) from February to June 2004. We concentrated on larvae of dab Limanda limanda and lesser sandeel Ammodytes marinus in order to compare early life stages of iteroparous and nearly semelparous fish. We analysed length, weight and RNA:DNA ratios as a proxy for condition of the larvae. The relationship between larval nutritional condition and larval size provided an indication of condition-selective mortality due to a loss of larvae in poor condition from the larger size-classes. For the sandeel, larvae in good condition were present in all size-classes, whereas for the dab maximum larval condition increased with increasing size. Variability in both standard length and condition was high in the 2 species during their planktonic stage. Both species showed good nutritional condition in the early to mid portion of the recruitment period and declines in condition in late April. This was more pronounced in larval dab, which showed a higher dependency on feeding conditions than larval sandeel. Together, these findings indicate a more conservative strategy of early life stages of the nearly semelparous sandeel compared with the iteroparous dab.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Ichthyology; Larval fishes; RNA:DNA ratio; Helgoland Roads; North Sea
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB3 Marine Ecology > FB3-EV Marine Evolutionary Ecology
OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence
HZG
HGF-AWI
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Inter Research
Projects: Future Ocean, Helgoland Foodweb Project
Date Deposited: 17 Nov 2009 11:08
Last Modified: 23 Sep 2019 21:34
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/1176

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