Overwintering survivorship and growth of young-of-the-year black sea bass Centropristis striata

Abstract

Overwintering conditions have long been known to affect fish survival and year-class strength as well as determine the poleward range limit of many temperate fishes. Despite this known importance, mechanisms controlling overwintering mortality are poorly understood and the tolerance of marine fishes to the combined effects of winter temperature, salinity, and size is rarely quantified. In recent years, higher abundances of the temperate Serranid, black sea bass Centropristis striata, have been observed at latitudes further north than their traditional range suggesting that warming water temperatures, particularly during winter, may be facilitating the establishment of a population at more northern latitudes. To examine overwintering survival of C. striata, the combined effects of temperature, salinity and body mass were quantified in laboratory experiments. We identified 6˚C as the lower incipient lethal temperature for C. striata, below which fish cease feeding, lose weight rapidly and die within 32 days. A short cold exposure experiment indicated that temperatures below 5˚C resulted in mortality events that continued even as the temperature increased slowly to 10˚C, indicating that even short cold snaps can impact survival and recruitment in this species. Importantly, fish in lower salinity lived significantly longer than fish at higher salinity at both 3˚C and 5˚C, suggesting that osmoregulatory stress plays a role in overwintering mortality in this species. Size was not a critical factor in determining overwintering survival of young-of-the-year (YOY) C. striata. Overwintering survival of YOY C. striata can be effectively predicted as a function of temperature and salinity and their interaction with an accelerated failure model to project future range limits. Identifying temperature thresholds may be a tractable way to incorporate environmental factors into population models and stock assessment models in fishes.

Sensitivity of marine fish thermal habitat models to fishery data sources

“…This suggests that bottom temperature alone is a more effective predictor shelf‐wide than it is in shallow inshore waters where other features such as productivity, bottom topography, terrestrial and riverine inputs, competition, spawning dynamics, and predator–prey interactions may play a larger role (Cowen et al., 1993 ; Del Vecchio & Blough, 2004 ; Vodacek et al., 1997 ). Cooler temperatures may be more deterministic to predicting distribution limitations than warmer temperatures for the US Northern stock of black sea bass population, which inhabits the most northern latitude for the species, an observation supported by several previous studies (Miller et al., 2016 ; Sullivan & Tomasso, 2011 ; Younes et al., 2020 ) as well as this study by the fact that all three surveys displayed a remarkably similar lower thermal limit around 8.5℃. Bottom temperature in the Mid‐Atlantic Bight rarely reaches the upper thermal tolerance limit observed in laboratory studies (>25℃; Atwood et al., 2003 ; Slesinger et al., 2019 ; Sullivan & Tomasso, 2011 ).…”

Temperature‐ and ration‐dependent winter growth in northern‐stock Black Sea Bass juveniles

“…We randomly placed each rearing container into one of nine 600-L recirculating tanks (eight containers/tank; mean maximum stocking density = 0.07 kg/m) that were independently controlled for temperature (via LabView, National Instruments triggering heaters or chillers; Baumann et al 2022) and assigned to one of three temperature treatments: 6, 12, or 19°C (three tanks per temperature treatment). Chosen temperatures therefore ranged from the lower thermal limit (Younes et al 2020) to just below the thermal growth optimum for northernstock Black Sea Bass (Berlinsky et al 2000). Initially, all juveniles experienced 20°C for 7 days, then conditions were decreased by 0.5°C/day until target temperatures were reached.…”

“…While pertinent work on this most northern stock contingent has occurred, we still lack important baseline data for the expanding northern Black Sea Bass stock, especially for early life stages and juveniles. While prior work has examined overwintering in juveniles (Hales and Able 2001;Younes et al 2020), empirical data on temperature-and food-dependent juvenile winter growth are still needed and could inform projections of whether and when Black Sea Bass will expand even further in abundance and/or northward. Juvenile growth also determines size-selective winter mortality (e.g., Hurst and Conover 1998;Geissinger et al 2021) because temperaturedependent energy depletion (Copeman et al 2017) and decreased food availability (Sewall et al 2019;Biro et al 2021) require individuals to consume built-up energy stores for survival (Foltz and Norden 1977;Foy and Paul 1999).…”

Metabolomics in salmonid aquaculture research: Applications and future perspectives

“…Elevated temperatures can also depress metabolism, 122 alter oxidative regulation and affect immunity 123,124 . Therefore, fish mortalities occur due to cold snap and heat wave events 125 . Despite its relevance in aquaculture, metabolomics studies on this theme are the least among salmonids.…”

“…123,124 Therefore, fish mortalities occur due to cold snap and heat wave events. 125 Despite its relevance in aquaculture, metabolomics studies on this theme are the least among salmonids. With global ocean temperatures expected to rise 1-4°C by the end of the century, 126 the number of thermal-related experiments is likely to grow, driven by the need to develop resilient breeds for aquaculture and to better manage fisheries.…”