Food consumption of larval, young and adult herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea

Arrhenius, Fredrik; Hansson, Sture

doi:10.3354/meps096125

Cited by 156 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Rudstam et al (1994) could not find a negative correlation between zooplankton abundance and clupeid biomass in the Baltic, neither in coastal nor in open sea areas. They explained this partly by low predation pressure in spring and early summer (Arrhenius and Hansson, 1993), allowing the mesozooplankton populations to build up even in years when high predation pressure was observed in late summer and early autumn. In contrast, our data show high daily rations for both planktivores also in April, which might reduce production rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food consumption by clupeids in the Central Baltic: evidence for top-down control?

Möllmann¹

1999

ICES Journal of Marine Science

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Considerable changes have taken place in the pelagic ecosystem of the Central Baltic Sea during the last decade. Owing to a combination of high fishing pressure and unfavourable hydrographic conditions, the cod (Gadus morhua) stock as the top predator in the system was reduced from a high level in the early 1980s to its lowest size on record in the early 1990s. The preferred prey species sprat (Sprattus sprattus) showed a significant increase in population size since the late 1980s to the highest level on record in recent years, while the herring (Clupea harengus), another important planktivore in the system, did not show such a response. We investigate whether fluctuations in clupeid stock size cascade down to the trophic level of mesozooplankton, based on stomach content data and daily ration estimates in combination with stock sizes estimated from Multispecies Virtual Population Analysis. Estimates of daily consumption by the populations of the two species for 1978–1990 were compared with standing stocks of mesozooplankton species. No evidence was found for food limitation as might be expected if clupeids exert a strong top-down control on mesozooplankton. Also no influence on interannual variability of mesozooplankton abundance was detected. However, predation did contribute to the seasonal development of two copepod species (Pseudocalanus elongatus and Temora longicornis).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food consumption by clupeids in the Central Baltic: evidence for top-down control?

Möllmann¹

1999

ICES Journal of Marine Science

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“…As Baltic herring grows, it begins to feed on larger organisms, such as mysids and amphipods (Aneer 1980, Flinkman et al 1991. Arrhenius & Hansson (1993) have proposed that a mixed diet is essential for maintaining a good WAA in older herring and that a decline of mysids (mainly Mysis mixta and M. relicta) in herring diet could also explain the growth anomaly. Unfortunately there is no information about changes in mysid populations during the Baltic stagnation period.…”

Section: Top-down or Bottom-up Control Of Herring Growth?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in northern Baltic zooplankton and herring nutrition from 1980s to 1990s:top-down and bottom-up processes at work

Flinkman¹,

Aro²,

Vuorinen³

et al. 1998

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

138

116

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During the stagnation period of the Baltic Sea the mean weight-at-age of Baltic herring decreased by 50% (between 1977 and 1992). This has usually been attributed to a top-down process, i.e. to the simultaneous collapse of cod stocks and their predation. We present long-term data for 1980 to 1993 showing that bottom-up effects may also have played a role: along with the decline of salinity. the biomass proportion of zooplankton taxa preferred by herring (larger than 20 pg ind:' in wet welght) significantly declined. To support our hypothesis we present a study in which Baltic herring feeding and selective predation were investigated during 1985, a time of good growth and high weightat-age, and 1991, when herring growth and weight-at-age were poor. In this study, herring ston~achs and simultaneously taken plankton samples were analysed from trawl surveys conducted in the northern Baltic proper d'uring the peak of the herring feeding season in late summer. During both 1985 and 1991, herring selectively preyed on the larger zooplankton categones, especially neritic copepods. However, in 1991, a smaller proportion of the prey in herring stomachs consisted of neritic copepods, apparently because their share in plankton had decreased. Consequently, and despite an increase in total zooplankton biomass, the estimated carbon content of the food eaten by herring was lower, and the average stomach fullness index (on a scale of 0 to 5) decreased from 3.9 in 1985 to 1.9 in 1991. Also, the amount of mesenteric fat on herring stomachs declined from 4.2 to 3.2 (scale 0 to 5), indicating a longer-term failure in feeding success. We suggest that, in addition to possible top-down effects (a release of cod predation), bottom-up processes mediated via changes in mesozooplankton species composition have also influenced hernng growth and that both of these processes are affected by the same environmental factor-the Baltic salinity level.

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“…Adult specimens feed on the mysidacea, mainly Mysis mixta. The largest specimens, however, prefer juvenile stages of the Gobiidae fish (Arrhenius, Hansson 1992;Jackowski 2002;Casini et al 2004).…”

Section: Biological Description Of the Study Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residue of chlorinated pesticides in fish caught in the Southern Baltic

Reindl

Falkowska

Szumiło

et al. 2013

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies

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The aim of this study was to estimate the residue of chlorinated pesticides in the edible fish caught in the Gulf of Gdańsk and in the Vistula Lagoon. The highest mean concentrations of total DDT were found in the muscles of salmon (331.45 ng g -1 lw.) and sabre carp (306.29 ng g -1 lw.) caught in the Vistula Lagoon, and in the muscles of cod (309.88 ng g -1 lw.) and herring (304.86 ng g -1 lw.) from the Gulf of Gdańsk. Moreover, it was discovered that the following were present in the muscles of fish: DDT metabolites (pp'-DDE and pp'-DDD isomers) as well as hexachlorobenzene and its metabolites and endrin, dieldrin, α-endosulfan isomers and methoxychlor. Pesticides concentrations were higher in the livers of fish than in the muscles, which proves that the removal of toxins from the fish systems dominates over their accumulation. Because no concentration limits for pesticides have been defined, consumer safety assessment of fish caught in the Southern Baltic and in the Vistula Lagoon is not possible. The authors, having

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Food consumption of larval, young and adult herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea

Cited by 156 publications

References 22 publications

Food consumption by clupeids in the Central Baltic: evidence for top-down control?

Food consumption by clupeids in the Central Baltic: evidence for top-down control?

Changes in northern Baltic zooplankton and herring nutrition from 1980s to 1990s:top-down and bottom-up processes at work

Residue of chlorinated pesticides in fish caught in the Southern Baltic

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