Abstract
Within-clutch variation in the size or the amount of yolk in the egg has been widely studied because of its importance for both maternal and offspring fitness. In particular, egg size has been used as a proxy for survival in first-feeding salmonids alevins. We tested the hypothesis that egg size has implications for the phenotypes (development, physiology, and behavior) of juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) up to 1 year post fertilization in both hatchery and wild fish. Egg diameter was measured for 38 families; the smallest and largest eggs were selected and reared individually to study embryonic development, and then collectively as “small” and “large” egg groups. The development and growth of individual embryos were followed up to first feeding. We showed that hatchery fish have smaller eggs than wild fish, offspring from small eggs grow better during their first year than those from larger eggs, offspring from large eggs hatch later and at a more advanced stage than those from small eggs, and the degree of smolting and saltwater preference differed between hatchery and wild offspring. By looking at not only mean egg size but also individual mediated–egg size phenotypic traits, we show the significant contribution of egg size in promoting phenotypic variation within a population and its potential for among-population variation.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
All care and handling of fish were carried out under the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Oregon State University (ACUP # 3951). We thank the ODFW North Fork Alsea Hatchery and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for providing the fish used in this study and the staff at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center for their assistance with care and maintenance of fish. We thank Anup Gurung for helping in PIT tagging fish, John Winkowski for his assistance with running the saltwater tests and smolt sampling, and Rob Chitwood from the Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit for providing the experimental tanks for the saltwater tests. Julia Unrein conducted the gill Na+, K+ -ATPase assay and Arimune Munakata (Myagi University of Education, Sendai Japan) conducted the thyroxine assay. Antoine Millet, Samantha Beck, Agnes Kera Kreiling, and two anonymous reviewers reviewed an earlier version of the manuscript. Funding was provided by the Icelandic Center for Research (RANNÍS), the Eimskip University Fund at the University of Iceland, and the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation to CAL, and the Oregon Hatchery Research Center, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Fisheries and Wildlife Department of Oregon State University.
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All care and handling of fish were carried out under the approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Oregon State University (ACUP # 3951). Documentation can be provided upon request.
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Bjarni K. Kristjánsson is on the Editorial Board of Environmental Biology of Fishes journal, and is a Guest Editor of this special issue, but he had no involvement in the peer review of this article and had no access to information regarding its peer review.
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Leblanc, C.A., Schreck, C., Kristjánsson, B.K. et al. Egg size–related traits during the first year of growth and smolting in hatchery and wild juveniles of steelhead trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Environ Biol Fish 106, 1061–1078 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01377-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01377-8