Synopsis
Marine fish species with planktonic larval stages experience high and variable pre-adult mortality, and in accordance with general life-history theory have evolved iteroparity to reduce the uncertainty in reproductive success of individuals. In this paper we use a Monte Carlo model to explore the influence of spawning style and adult survival of clupeoids on the spawning success of individual fish during their life span, when early stage survival is determined according to different spectra of environmental variability. In these simulations the variation in reproductive success was governed first by the number of batches of eggs spawned by each adult fish over its lifespan (as determined by its pattern of spawning and the adult survival rate), and secondly by the patterning of environmental variability affecting early stage survival. We consider that the life history styles of the clupeoids are based on co-evolved traits in which the different patterns of iteroparity represent different solutions for coping with the variable nature of early-stage survival. When these life history traits are compared on time scales appropriate to each species, they are therefore unlikely to provide the correlation between brood strength variation and the life span of adults proposed in Murphy's (1968) contribution to this aspect of life history theory.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Armstrong, M.J., P.A. Shelton, I. Hampton, G. Jolly & Y. Melo. 1988. Egg production estimates of anchovy biomass in the southern Benguela system. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Rep. 29: 137–157.
Bakun, A. 1985. Comparative studies and the recruitment problem: searching for generalizations. Calif. Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Rep. 26: 30–40.
Beddington, J.R. & J.G. Cooke. 1983. The potential yield of fish stocks. FAO Fish. Tech. Pap. 242. 47 pp.
Cushing, D.H. 1969. The regularity of the spawning season of some fishes. J. Cons. int. Explor. Mer 33: 81–92.
Cushing, D.H. 1975. Marine ecology and fisheries. Cambridge University Press, London. 278 pp.
Cushing, D.H. 1982. Climate and fisheries. Academic Press, London. 373 pp.
Daan, N. 1980. A review of replacement of depleted stocks by other species and the mechanisms underlying such replacement. Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Cons. int. Explor. Mer 177: 405–421.
Hunter, J.R. & S.R. Goldberg. 1980. Spawning incidence and batch fecundity in northern anchovyEngraulis mordax. U.S. Fish. Bull. 77: 641–652.
Jones, R. 1983. The decline in herring and mackerel and the associated increase in other species in the North Sea. pp. 507–520.In: G.D. Sharp & J. Csirke (ed.) Proceedings of the Expert Consultation to Examine Changes in Abundance and Species Composition of Neritic Fish Resources, San José, Costa Rica, 18–29 April 1983, FAO Fish. Rep. 291, Vol. 2.
Kapuscinski, A.R.D. & J.E. Lannan. 1986. A conceptual genetic fitness model for fisheries management. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 43: 1606–1616.
Lo, N.C.M., J. Alheit & B. Alegre. 1986. Partial fecundity in the Peruvian sardine (Sardinops sagax). Bol. Inst. Mar PéruCallao 10: 45–60 (In Spanish).
Murphy, G.I. 1968. Pattern in life history and the environment. Amer. Nat. 102: 391–403.
Myers, R.A. & R.W. Doyle. 1983. Predicting natural mortality rates and reproduction-mortality trade-offs from fish life history data. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 40: 612–620.
Pauly, D. 1980. On the interrelationships between natural mortality, growth parameters and mean environmental temperature in 175 fish stocks. J. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer 36: 175–192.
Roff, D.A. 1981. Reproductive uncertainty and the evolution of iteroparity: why don't flatfish put all their eggs in one basket? Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 38: 968–977.
Stearns, S.C. 1976. Life-history tactics: a review of the ideas. Q. Rev. Biol. 51: 3–47.
Stearns, S.C. 1977. The evolution of life history traits: a critique of the theory and a review of the data. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 8: 145–171.
Walsh, J.J. 1978. The biological consequences of the interaction of the climatic, El Niño, and event scale of variability in the eastern tropical Pacific. Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Cons. int. Explor. Mer 173: 182–192.
Ziljstra, J.J. 1973. Egg weight and fecundity in the North Sea herring (Clupea harengus). Neth. J. Sea Res. 6: 173–204.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Armstrong, M.J., Shelton, P.A. Clupeoid life-history styles in variable environments. Environ Biol Fish 28, 77–85 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00751028
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00751028