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Variability in Juvenile English Sole Condition Relative to Temperature and Trophic Dynamics Along an Oregon Estuarine Gradient

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Abstract

Many benthic fish and invertebrates, including the flatfish English sole (Parophrys vetulus), utilize estuaries as nursery habitat during their juvenile life stage. Regions within an estuary differ with respect to salinity, temperature, oxygen, and organic inputs, highlighting the complexity of nursery habitat and the need to assess multiple habitats within a single estuary. To determine the effect of variable estuarine habitat on juvenile English sole, we examined morphometric and energetic (lipid) condition, fatty acids, and stable isotopes (13C and 15N) of wild-caught juveniles from upriver and downriver habitats within the Yaquina Bay, Oregon estuary. Downriver-caught fish exhibited higher energetic condition, which may be attributed to cooler temperatures and the marine-sourced carbon that typified that region’s food web. Conversely, individuals from the upriver habitat exhibited higher morphometric condition. This may be due in part to the warmer temperatures upriver that have been observed to promote growth and suppress lipid storage in other marine species. Our findings highlight the important but variable contribution of both upriver and downriver habitats to English sole early life history.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Fredrick Prahl for contributing to the study design and data interpretation, Mara Spencer for creating a map of the study area, and Katelyn Bosley for feedback on fatty acid and stable isotope analyses and interpretation. Thanks to Scarlett Arbuckle, Morgan Bancroft, Scott Heppell, Karolin Klinck, Kathryn Sobocinski, and Angie Sremba for help with laboratory and field work. Thanks also to the Colorado Plateau Stable Isotope Laboratory at Northern Arizona University (CPSIL-NAU) for guidance on stable isotope sample preparation. We would also like to thank Dr. Andrew Thurber and anonymous reviewers for critical feedback on this manuscript.

Funding

This work was partially funded by the Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) through NSF Division of Ocean Science cooperative agreement No. 0424602. Further, scholarship support to Michelle Stowell was provided by the Hatfield Marine Science Center through the Mamie Markham Research Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 CEOAS Administration Building, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Michelle A. Stowell, Louise A. Copeman & Lorenzo Ciannelli

  2. Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies, Oregon State University, 2030 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR, 97365, USA

    Louise A. Copeman

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  1. Michelle A. Stowell
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  2. Louise A. Copeman
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Correspondence to Michelle A. Stowell.

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Communicated by Matthew D. Taylor

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Stowell, M.A., Copeman, L.A. & Ciannelli, L. Variability in Juvenile English Sole Condition Relative to Temperature and Trophic Dynamics Along an Oregon Estuarine Gradient. Estuaries and Coasts 42, 1955–1968 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-019-00621-2

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