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Eggs from anadromous adults provide marine-derived nutrients to Atlantic salmon and brown trout parr in late autumn – observations from a Swedish coastal stream

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Abstract

In this paper we demonstrate that eggs from anadromous salmonines can constitute a large proportion of the dietary intake of individual juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta during the spawning period in late autumn. The majority of fish older than 1 year residing on a spawning ground were found to have ingested eggs from spawning salmonines (Salmo sp.). Young-of-the-year brown trout were also able to consume eggs, at least down to a minimum fork length of 68 mm. The smallest Atlantic salmon found to have consumed eggs had a fork length of 79 mm. Larger fish were more likely to consume eggs, and consumed more eggs, than smaller individuals. The eggs of anadromous salmonines provide a rich source of marine-derived nutrients to the freshwater residing juveniles at the onset of winter. Our study highlights that these eggs may constitute an important energy input for juvenile salmonines in European anadromous populations, and could possibly influence winter survival rates and subsequent smoltification in the following spring.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jeroen Brijs, Jörgen I. Johnsson and Johan Höjesjö for reading, discussing, and providing valuable comments on the manuscript. JN and DA received economical support from Helge Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse and Wilhelm och Martina Lundgrens Vetenskapsfond. The experiment was carried out under licenses 26/2011 and 54/2014, issued by the Ethical Committee for Animal Research in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    J. Näslund, D. Aldvén & L. Závorka

  2. Institute for Environmental Studies, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

    L. Závorka

  3. Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

    L. Závorka

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  1. J. Näslund
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  2. D. Aldvén
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  3. L. Závorka
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Correspondence to J. Näslund.

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Näslund, J., Aldvén, D. & Závorka, L. Eggs from anadromous adults provide marine-derived nutrients to Atlantic salmon and brown trout parr in late autumn – observations from a Swedish coastal stream. Environ Biol Fish 98, 2305–2313 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0436-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0436-y

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