Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-23T18:00:13.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Buoyancy and Vertical Distribution of Eggs of Sprat (Sprattus Sprattus) and Pilchard (Sardina Pilchardus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

S. H. Coombs ,
C. A. Fosh  and
M. A. Keen
S. H. Coombs
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
C. A. Fosh
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
M. A. Keen
Affiliation:
Natural Environment Research Council, Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Observations on the density of pelagic marine fish eggs have indicated that they are near neutral buoyancy for most of development and have a tendency to become denser towards hatching (see Russell, 1976). However, most of this information has been based on limited laboratory observations on the relative buoyancy of eggs; only a few experiments have given more precise estimates of the absolute density of eggs based on the salinity of water in which they are neutrally buoyant (e.g. Franz, 1910; Sundnes, Leivestad & Iversen, 1965). Recently, a new technique (Coombs, 1981), based on the use of a stable column of continuously graded sea-water concentration has allowed more precise and routine measurements of the density of fish eggs throughout development.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , May 1985 , pp. 461 - 474
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alerdice, D. F. & Forrester, C. R., 1968. Some effects of salinity and temperature on early development and survival of the English sole (Parophrys vetulus). Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 25, 495–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coombs, S. H., 1981. A density—gradient column for determining the specific gravity of fish eggs, with particular reference to eggs of the mackerel Scomber scombrus. Marine Biology, 63, 101–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coombs, S. H., Lindley, J. A. & Fosh, C. A., 1983. Vertical distribution of larvae of mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and microplankton, with some conclusions on feeding conditions and survey methods. F.A.O. Fisheries Reports, no. 291 (vol. 3), 939–956.Google Scholar
Coombs, S. H., Pipe, R. K. & Mitchell, C. E., 1979. The vertical distribution of fish eggs and larvae in the eastern North Atlantic, and North Sea. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, Early Life History Symposium Contribution DA:3, 24 pp. [Mimeo.]Google Scholar
Cushing, D. H., 1957. The number of pilchards in the Channel. Fishery Investigations. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ser. 2), 21 (5), 27 pp.Google Scholar
Davenport, J., Lønning, S. & Kjørsvik, E., 1981. Osmotic and structural changes during early development of eggs and larvae of the cod, Gadus morhua L. Journal of Fish Biology, 19, 317–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demir, N. & Southward, A. J., 1974. The abundance and distribution of eggs and larvae of teleost fishes off Plymouth in 1969 and 1970. Part 3. Eggs of pilchard (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum) and sprat (Sprattus sprattus (L.)). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 54, 333–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franz, V., 1910. Untersuchungen Über das spezifische Gewicht der planktonischen Fischeier. Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen der Kommission zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung der deutschen Meere (Abteilung Helgoland), 9, 179–196.Google Scholar
Gamulin, T. & Hure, J., 1955. Contribution à la connaissance de l'écologie de la ponte de la sardine (Sardina pilchardus Walb.) dans l' Adriatique. Acta adriatica, 7 (8), 23 pp.Google Scholar
Holliday, F. G. T. & Jones, M. P., 1967. Some effects of salinity on the developing eggs and larvae of the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 47, 39–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsen, J. P. & Johansen, A. C, 1908. Remarks on the changes in specific gravity of pelagic fish eggs and the transportation of same in Danish waters. Meddelelser fra Kommissionen for Havundersegelser (ser. Fiskeri), 3 (2), 24 pp.Google Scholar
Kändler, R. & Tan, E. O., 1965. Investigations on the osmoregulation in pelagic eggs of gadoid and flatfishes in the Baltic. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (CM. Papers and Reports), Baltic-Belt Seas Committee, no. 43, 5 pp. [Mimeo.]Google Scholar
Lønning, S. & Davenport, J., 1980. The swelling egg of the long rough dab, Hippoglossoides platessoides limandoides (Bloch). Journal of Fish Biology, 17, 359–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuman, G. & Pierson, W. J., 1966. Principles of Physical Oceanography. 545 pp. London: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Pipe, R. K., Coombs, S. H. & Clarke, K. R., 1981. On the sample validity of the Longhurst-Hardy Plankton Recorder for fish eggs and larvae. Journal of Plankton Research, 3, 675–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Remotti, E., 1921. Variazioni di peso specifico nelle uova galleggianti dei Teleostei durante lo sviluppo. Memorie. R. Comitato talassografico italiano, 80, 1–42.Google Scholar
Russell, F. S., 1926. The vertical distribution of marine macroplankton. II. The pelagic young of teleostean fishes in the daytime in the Plymouth area, with a note on the eggs of certain species. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 14, 101—159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, F. S., 1976. The Eggs and Planktonic Stages of British Marine Fishes. 524 pp. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Solemdal, P., 1970. Intraspecific variations in size, buoyancy and growth of eggs and early larvae of Arcto-Norwegian cod, Gadus morhua L., due to parental and environmental effects. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (CM. Papers and Reports), F:28, 12 pp. [Mimeo.]Google Scholar
Solemdal, P., 1971. Prespawning flounders transferred to different salinities and the effects on their eggs. Vie et milieu, 1 (supplement 22), 409–423.Google Scholar
Solemdal, P., 1973. Transfer of Baltic flatfish to a marine environment and the long term effects on reproduction. Oikos (supplementum 15), 268–276.Google Scholar
Solemdal, P. & Sundby, S., 1981. Vertical distribution of pelagic fish eggs in relation to species, spawning behaviour and wind conditions. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (CM. Papers and Reports), G:77, 22 pp. [Mimeo.]Google Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1974. Long term changes in abundance of eggs of the Cornish pilchard (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum) off Plymouth. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 54, 641–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J. & Barrett, R. L., 1983. Observations on the vertical distribution of zooplankton, including post-larval teleosts, off Plymouth in the presence of a thermocline and a chlorophyll-dense layer. Journal of Plankton Research, 5, 599–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J. & Demir, N., 1974. Seasonal changes in dimensions and viability of the developing eggs of the Cornish pilchard (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum) off Plymouth. In The Early Life History of Fish (ed. Blaxter, J. H. S.), pp. 53–68. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundby, S., 1983. A one dimensional model for the vertical distribution of pelagic fish eggs in the mixed layer. Deep-Sea Research, 30A, 645–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundnes, G., Leivestad, H. & Iversen, O., 1965. Buoyancy determination of eggs from the cod (Gadus morhua L.) Journal du Conseil, 29, 249–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, B. M., Milligan, S. P. & Nichols, J. H., 1981. The development rates of sprat (Sprattus sprattus L.) eggs over a range of temperatures. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (CM. Papers and Reports), H:15, 8 pp. [Mimeo.]Google Scholar
Williams, R., Collins, N. R. & Conway, D. V. P., 1983. The double LHPR system, a high speed micro- and macroplankton sampler. Deep-Sea Research, 30A, 331–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaitsev, Y. P., 1971. Marine Neustonology. 207 pp. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations.Google Scholar