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Thermal stratification influences maturation and timing of spawning in a local Clupea harengus population
Author(s) -
Langård L.,
Slotte A.,
Skaret G.,
Johannessen A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/jfb.12329
Subject(s) - clupea , biology , herring , fishery , fjord , population , stratification (seeds) , atlantic herring , oceanography , fish <actinopterygii> , seed dormancy , botany , demography , germination , dormancy , sociology , geology
Maturation and timing of spawning in relation to temperature were studied in a local Atlantic herring Clupea harengus population inhabiting a small semi‐enclosed ecosystem (7 km 2 ) separated from the larger outer fjord system by narrow sills on the west coast of Norway. Ambient temperatures varied annually up to 4° C during both the pre‐spawning and spawning periods from February to April, but without affecting the spawning time. Instead, the timing of spawning was found to be related to thermal stratification in response to spring warming, which occurred about the same time every year regardless of initial temperatures.