Aspects of Embryonic and Larval Development in Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Abstract

As bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp H . molitrix (the bigheaded carps) are poised to enter the Laurentian Great Lakes and potentially damage the region’s economically important fishery, information on developmental rates and behaviors of carps is critical to assessing their ability to establish sustainable populations within the Great Lakes basin. In laboratory experiments, the embryonic and larval developmental rates, size, and behaviors of bigheaded carp were tracked at two temperature treatments, one “cold” and one “warm”. Developmental rates were computed using previously described stages of development and the cumulative thermal unit method. Both species have similar thermal requirements, with a minimum developmental temperature for embryonic stages of 12.1° C for silver carp and 12.9° C for bighead carp, and 13.3° C for silver carp larval stages and 13.4° C for bighead carp larval stages. Egg size differed among species and temperature treatments, as egg size was larger in bighead carp, and “warm" temperature treatments. The larvae started robust upwards vertical swimming immediately after hatching, interspersed with intervals of sinking. Vertical swimming tubes were used to measure water column distribution, and ascent and descent rates of vertically swimming fish. Water column distribution and ascent and descent rates changed with ontogeny. Water column distribution also showed some diel periodicity. Developmental rates, size, and behaviors contribute to the drift distance needed to fulfill the early life history requirements of bigheaded carps and can be used in conjunction with transport information to assess invasibility of a river.

Reproductive strategy, spawning induction, spawning temperatures and early life history of captive sicklefin chub Macrhybopsis meeki

“…girardi , shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Rafinesque 1820), S . albus and Hypophthalmichthys Bleeker 1860 carp (Moore, ; Platania, ; Kynard et al ., ; George & Chapman, ; Perkin, ), where larvae actively swim up to the water surface and then drift back down. M .…”

Application of the FluEgg model to predict transport of Asian carp eggs in the Saint Joseph River (Great Lakes tributary)

“…FluEgg is a three-dimensional Lagrangian model that uses: (i) the biological characteristics of the eggs, such as growth rate and changes in egg density, (ii) the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow, and (iii) the water temperature to simulate the turbulent diffusion phenomena that contribute to egg movement. Water temperature is an important parameter due to the role it plays in both egg development (Chapman and George, 2011a;George and Chapman, 2013) and egg buoyancy. In FluEgg, the river is discretized into a series of cells and the egg mass is simulated as discrete particles.…”

“…After hatching the egg transport equations used in FluEgg are no longer valid. This results from the fact that larval Asian carp exhibit vertical swimming and can influence their position in the water column (George and Chapman, 2013). The simulation time step must fulfill the stability criteria established by Garcia et al (2013).…”

Geology, hydrology, water quality, and potential for interbasin invasive-species spread by way of the groundwater pathway near Lemont, Illinois

“…for bighead carp and 0.13 to 0.25 in. for silver carp (George and Chapman, 2013). The larvae of both species can be as large as about 0.33 in.…”

“…Once fertilized, silver carp eggs have been documented to hatch in 21-33 hours at a temperature of 22.5 °C , but development time varies with temperature and other factors. For example, George and Chapman (2013) recorded a 15-17 hour difference in hatching time for a temperature difference of less than 3 °C.…”