Partial migration: growth varies between resident and migratory fish.

ABSTRACT: Partial migration occurs in many taxa and ecosystems and may confer survival benefits. Here, we use otolith chemistry data to determine whether fish from a large estuarine system were resident or migratory, and then examine whether contingents display differences in modelled growth based on changes in width of otolith growth increments. Sixty-three per cent of fish were resident based on Ba : Ca of otoliths, with the remainder categorized as migratory, with both contingents distributed across most age/size classes and both sexes, suggesting population-level bet hedging. Migrant fish were in slightly better condition than resident fish based on Fulton's K condition index. Migration type (resident versus migratory) was 56 times more likely to explain variation in growth than a model just inc

SUBMITTER: Gillanders BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4387491 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature