Rule of age and size at maturity: individual variation in the maturation history of resident white-spotted charr |
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Authors: | K. Morita, S. H. Morita,&dagger |
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Affiliation: | Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University, Hakodate 041-8611, Japan |
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Abstract: | Individual growth and maturation histories, age, and size at maturity of resident white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis were examined in a tag-recapture study in a natural river over 3 years. Slow-growing fish reached sexual maturity not only at an older age, but also at a smaller size than fast-growing fish, although females had a larger threshold size at maturity than males at each age. It is suggested that these patterns result from adaptive phenotypic plasticity that depends on individual growth conditions. |
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Keywords: | salmonid fishes individual variation phenotypic plasticity reaction norm |
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