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Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts of the Atlantic Tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) Across an Estuarine Transition Zone

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Abstract

Tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) in the St. Lawrence estuarine transition zone (ETZ) undergo an ontogenetic habitat shift. Older age classes, characterised by a male-dominated sex ratio, disperse downstream over the summer months to occupy the colder more saline waters of the estuary. Significant differences in length and mass along the salinity gradient were observed in September with upstream fish of any given age class generally exhibiting greater growth. These differences were not seen in early summer. Benthic amphipod δ 34S signatures were strongly correlated with salinity and served to demonstrate that tomcod δ 34S signatures were not in isotopic equilibrium in the more saline waters of the ETZ. Seasonal distributional patterns, growth dynamics and isotopic disequilibrium all indicate that the observed habitat shift may occur on an annual basis, following winter aggregation in warmer, less saline waters. Tomcod located in the downstream parts of the ETZ, predominantly males, were significantly more sexually developed than upstream tomcod for a given age. On the other hand, greater growth early in life is insured by occupying warmer, upstream waters during the summer months.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the captains and crew of the RV Lampsilis, especially François Harvey, Luc Harvey, Louis-Philippe Leclerc, Louise Lemay, Luc Lavoie and Sylvie Boutin. We also thank Andreanne Paris, Catherine Brisson-Bonenfant, Charlene Lavallee, Jean-François Bourque, Jean Francois Dery, Marie-Andree Godbout and Gesche Winkler for assistance on board and in the laboratory. We thank Daniel Dolan for validating the ageing of Atlantic tomcod, Yves Mailhot and Pierre Pettigrew for their knowledge of the species and the otolith preparation method. Isabel Thibault, François Martin, David Paez, Geneviève Parent, Marie-Claude Gagnon, Gabriel Colbeck, Simon Pineault, Louis Rocheleau-Lieutenant, Michel Belanger, Julie Turgeon and Warwick F. Vincent provided helpful comments during project development and the writing of the manuscript. This study was made possible by grants from the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Discovery Grant and ship-time programmes and by infrastructural support from the Université du Québec à Trois Rivières and Quebec-Ocean.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de biologie, 1045 avenue de la Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada, G1V 0A6

    Marc Antoine Couillard & Julian John Dodson

  2. Département de chimie-biologie, C.P.500, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, G9A 5H7

    Gilbert Cabana & Jean François Dery

  3. Département de mathématiques et de statistique, 1045 avenue de la Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada, G1V 0A6

    Gaétan Daigle

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  1. Marc Antoine Couillard
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Correspondence to Julian John Dodson.

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Couillard, M.A., Cabana, G., Dery, J.F. et al. Ontogenetic Habitat Shifts of the Atlantic Tomcod (Microgadus tomcod) Across an Estuarine Transition Zone. Estuaries and Coasts 34, 1234–1245 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-011-9428-0

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