Length-Dependent Winter Survival and Lipid Composition of Age-0 Largemouth Bass in Bay Springs Reservoir, Mississippi

Abstract

Age-0 largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides were studied in Bay Springs Reservoir, Mississippi, to determine if the larger young had greater survival through their first winter and if this survival was influenced by levels of energy reserves. Abundance decreased from 542 young/ hectare in June, when fish averaged 37 mm total length, to 12/hectare in March, when lengths averaged 149 mm. The length-frequency distribution of this year-class was positively skewed during June-August, became bimodal during September-January', and lost most of the smaller mode by March. During September-January, fish in the smaller mode decreased in abundance from 176 to 9/hectare and their mean length remained near 60 mm; fish in the larger mode decreased in abundance from 76 to 27/hectare and increased in length from 108 to 154 mm. Whole-body lipid content increased from 3.5% of dry body weight in fall to 5.9% in December and decreased to 3.3% in March. All young had equal amounts of stored lipid by late fall, but by March the surviving small young had less lipid than large young, suggesting that during winter smaller fish spent their reserves at a faster rate. Protein content averaged 74.6% of the dry body weight and neither differed among months nor changed with fish length. Mortality of the smallest young was accelerated in late fall and winter, coinciding with decreases in lipid stores and rapid drops in water temperature.

Changes in Some Properties of Black Sea Bream Released into the Daiô Bay, Hiroshima

“…4,8) Over-winter survival is lipid-dependent as reported in some freshwater fish. [17][18][19] Decrease of water temperature causes an activation of hepatic dehydrogenases such as G6PDH and PGDH which coincide with an increase in lipid contents.20,21) In our study, increases in lipogenic enzyme activity in au tumn suggested active lipid accumulation toward winter.…”

The energetic impact of overwinter prey assemblages on age-0 largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides

“…Differences were probably due to interspecific variation in winter habitat use, encounter rates, or subtle differences in gape size (sensu Micucci et al 2003). Although the ponds are generally homogeneous, piscine prey may partition habitats spatially (Miranda & Hubbard 1994) and exhibit temporal variation in habitat use or activity patterns. Although little is known about winter activity of bluegill some typically diurnal fish including minnows become nocturnal at low temperatures Three of the nine ponds had bluegill and macroinvertebrates, three ponds had fathead minnows and macroinvertebrates, and the remaining three ponds had only macroinvertebrates as available forage for age-0 largemouth bass.…”

Protracted Reproduction in Sunfish: The Temporal Dimension in Fish Recruitment Revisited

“…For many piscivorous fish, subtle differences in the timing of hatching of eggs may determine whether gape-limited juveniles grow sufficiently large to consume piscine prey, increase their energy intake, grow rapidly, and reach large fall size (Adams and DeAngelis 1987, Goodgame andMiranda 1993, Phillips et al 1995). Because large size as a function of early interactions often increases the probability of winter survival in temperate-latitude fish (Post and Evans 1989, Miranda and Hubbard 1994, Garvey et al 1998c) and amphibians (Dratnal andDavies 1990, Jiang andClaussen 1992), interactions among life stages and their consequences for first-year growth have important implications for recruitment to reproductive age.…”