Routine respiration rates of Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus L., and herring, Clupea harengus L., at low activity levels

Once adapted to the captive environment, mean minimum respiration rates were 118 mgO₂ kg⁻¹ h⁻¹ for mackerel, body length ( b.l ) range 290 to 380 mm, at 11.1o C at a swimming speed of 0.6 b.l. s¹ and 93 mgO₂ kg⁻¹ h¹ for herring, length range 255 to 310 mm, at 9.3° C at a swimming speed of 0.3 b.l. s¹.     

Feeding, Ichthyophonus sp. infection, distribution and growth history of Norwegian spring-spawning herring in summer

After its collapse in the late 1960s, 1991 was the first year of systematic herring investigations after the Norwegian Sea stock returned to the traditional summer-feeding areas. Of 11 prey groups three dominated the diet; Calanus finmarchicus, Parathemisto spp. and Sebastes spp. There was a high prevalence of Ichthyophonus sp. at stations in the central and western parts of the Norwegian Sea where the cpue was low. This suggests that infected individuals were unable to return from the feeding to the wintering area of the Norwegian fjords. Highest cpue were recorded between 68–73° N and 5–15° E. Age groups 2, 3 and 8 were most frequently caught and age group 8 (the 1983 year class) dominated the samples. Herring occurred in dense concentrations where C. finmarchicus dominated diet. 0-group fish dominated diet at stations along the coast from 66–73° N and out to c . 300 km off the coast. Mature herring overlapped in distribution with 0-group fish and Sebastes spp. contributed largely to herring diet in this area. The first rich year-class after the collapse, the 1983 year class, had a faster growth than rich year classes from past herring periods, but slower than poor ones.     

Influence of temperature on evasive responses of Atlantic herring larvae attacked by yearling herring, Clupea harengus L.

Predation encounters were staged in the laboratory between yearling herring, Clupea harengus L., 66 to 104 mm t.l. , and herring larvae, 8 to 30 mm t.l. ., at 8,11 and 14 o C. Video records were used to quantify prey behaviour. Prey responsiveness, reactive distance, response latency, and apparent looming threshold were not affected by temperature. Response speeds increased with temperature. Predator error rate and capture success showed no consistent thermal effects. Although the experiments could not fully evaluate the influence of temperature on the predators, results suggest that the predator's performance largely governs the outcome of an attack on a larva and that higher temperatures favour the predator by increasing the frequency of its encounter with prey.     

The relative profitability of particulate- and filter-feeding in the herring, Clupea harengus L.

Analysis of laboratory video-recordings of herring feeding by biting and filtering on Calanus finmarchicus and three sizes of Artemia enabled the capture rates of the two methods to be estimated at different prey concentrations. At low concentrations the fish feed by selective capture of individual particles, but the capture rate achievable by this method is constrained by the maximum rate at which they can bite. Filter-feeding is not subject to this constraint because capture rate is directly proportional to prey concentration and above a critical prey concentration its capture rate exceeds that of biting. The possession of two feeding methods allows the fish to maximize prey intake over a wide range of concentrations and the phenomenon of switching between feeding methods can be explained by their relative profitabilities at different concentrations. The observation that less than 50% of fish are filtering when capture rates by the two methods are equal suggests that filtering is energetically more costly than biting. Estimates of the energy cost of filtering indicated that it may be from 1.4 to 4.6 times higher than that of biting.     

The influence of different parental combinations and incubation temperature on the RNA and DNA content of herring larvae at hatching: a pilot study

In four half-sib pairings, herring mothers affected the standard length, dry weight, and RNA and DNA content of their progeny, while fathers affected larval RNA and DNA content. The amounts of RNA and DNA in offspring from one male were also influenced by temperature in that the highest RNA contents were found at the lowest temperature and highest DNA contents at the highest temperature. The results indicate that both environmental and genetic factors influence nucleic acid contents of young herring larvae, and this may limit the suitability of RNA : DNA ratio as a condition measure of newly hatched herring larvae.     

Effect of hydrogen sulphide on liver somatic index and Fulton's condition factor in Mystus nemurus

The growth rate and liver somatic index were significantly ( P <0.05) lower in Mystus nemurus exposed to hydrogen sulphide compared to controls. These differences increased with corresponding increases in hydrogen sulphide concentrations. No significant differences ( P >0.05) in Fulton's condition factor were detected between the exposed fish and the controls. The results revealed that liver somatic index is a more sensitive indicator of hydrogen sulphide toxicity compared to Fulton's condition factor.