Growth during the first summer at sea modulates sex-specific maturation schedule in Atlantic salmon
Publication: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
19 December 2020
Abstract
Recent decline in abundance of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and concomitant changes in life history may result from a decline in the growth conditions during marine migration. Available literature suggests the existence of a sex-specific reaction norm linking maturation with environmental growth conditions at sea. However, the extent to which this mechanism explains variations in age at maturity remains unclear. Using a historical collection of scales (1987–2017) from the Sélune River, France, we showed that marine growth declined over the first summer and remained stable during the subsequent periods at sea among returning salmon. Results support the hypothesis of a sex-specific probabilistic reaction norm, with individual probability to return after 1 year at sea increasing when growth increases. Females may require higher growth than males to attain their maturation threshold. This mechanism is a good candidate to explain temporal variability in sea-age at return at both the individual and population level in the Sélune population and in many other southern European populations.
Résumé
Les baisses récentes de l’abondance des saumons atlantiques (Salmo salar), ainsi que des changements concomitants du cycle biologique pourraient découler d’une détérioration des conditions de croissance durant la migration en mer. La documentation disponible semble indiquer l’existence d’une norme de réaction dépendant du sexe qui relie la maturation aux conditions ambiantes durant la croissance en mer. La mesure dans laquelle ce mécanisme pourrait expliquer les variations de l’âge à la maturité demeure toutefois incertaine. En utilisant une collection historique (1987–2017) d’écailles provenant de la rivière Sélune (France), nous démontrons que la croissance en mer diminuait durant le premier été, pour ensuite demeurer stable durant les périodes subséquentes en mer chez les saumons de retour à la rivière. Les résultats appuient l’hypothèse d’une norme de réaction probabiliste dépendant du sexe, la probabilité individuelle de retour après 1 an en mer augmentant de concert avec la croissance. Les femelles pourraient nécessiter une croissance plus forte que les mâles pour atteindre leur seuil de maturation. Ce mécanisme est un bon candidat pour expliquer la variabilité temporelle de l’âge en mer au moment du retour tant à l’échelle de l’individu que de la population dans la population de la rivière Sélune et de nombreuses autres populations d’Europe méridionale. [Traduit par la Rédaction]
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Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
Volume 78 • Number 6 • June 2021
Pages: 659 - 669
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Received: 30 June 2020
Accepted: 12 December 2020
Accepted manuscript online: 19 December 2020
Version of record online: 19 December 2020
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Cécile Tréhin, Etienne Rivot, Ludivine Lamireau, Lisa Meslier, Anne-Laure Besnard, Stephen D. Gregory, and Marie Nevoux. 2021. Growth during the first summer at sea modulates sex-specific maturation schedule in Atlantic salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
78(6): 659-669. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2020-0236
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