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Density‐Dependent Overwinter Survival and Growth of Red Shiners from a Southwestern River
Author(s) -
Matthews William J.,
Gido Keith B.,
MarshMatthews Edie
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(2001)130<0478:ddosag>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - streams , minnow , biology , juvenile , population density , abiotic component , cyprinidae , ecology , population , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , computer network , computer science , demography , sociology
The red shiner Cyprinella lutrensis is the most widespread and abundant minnow (Cyprinidae family) in central and southwestern North America, occurring at very high local densities in streams from northern Mexico to Nebraska and Iowa. The streams in which red shiners occur are typically harsh, unpredictable environments with temperature extremes and episodes of low oxygen, floods, and drought. In outdoor experimental streams, red shiners stocked at densities typical of natural streams showed moderate density effects on overwinter survival and strong effects on growth from October to May. At lower densities a higher percentage (>70% on average) of individuals survived winter, and most grew to adult size the next spring. At higher densities survival and average growth were lower, and the distribution of final body size was highly skewed, with a few individuals reaching sexual maturity and most remaining at the juvenile stage. The apparent growth of the cohort in the Washita River, Oklahoma, from which experimental fish were taken, was similar to that of red shiners at high densities in the experimental streams, suggesting that red shiner population parameters are density dependent in the wild despite the strong potential for the influence of abiotic factors in their typical habitats.