Abstract
Populations of Fundulus heteroclitus (L.) at the beginning of a growth season in a New England salt marsh consist of 3 yearly age classes, with the 1-year-old class contributing most of the biomass. Calculation of production rates revealed that the young fish were the most active part of the population and that females were more productive than males. The entire population spent equal amounts of energy in growth and in metabolism. Including the young of the year, we obtained total production of 160 kg dry weight/ha, a value among the highest obtained for natural fish populations. About 5 to 15% of the production is available to predators. Rates of food consumption by F. heteroclitus are high enough to turn over the population of prey relatively often. Popululations of F. heteroclitus are thus capable of exerting an important influence on the abundance and distribution of their prey.
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Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark
Contribution No. 3721 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
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Valiela, I., Wright, J.E., Teal, J.M. et al. Growth, production and energy transformations in the salt-marsh killifish Fundulus heteroclitus . Marine Biology 40, 135–144 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396259
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00396259