Abstract
Daily growth rings were examined in the otoliths of wild juvenile sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka to determine whether infection by ectoparasitic sea lice Caligus clemensi and Lepeophtheirus salmonis was associated with reduced host body growth, an important determinant of survival. Over 98% of the sea lice proved to be C. clemensi and the fish that were highly infected grew more slowly than uninfected individuals. Larger fish also grew faster than smaller fish. Finally, there was evidence of an interaction between body size and infection status, indicating the potential for parasite-mediated growth divergence.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-57 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of Fish Biology |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding for this project was provided by Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Hakai Institute, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, V. Bradshaw and D. Bradshaw, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants to L.M.D., J.D.R. and M.K., an NSERC Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship to S.C.G., an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship to M.H.H.P., an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship in Ocean Science to M.K., and the Tom Buell Endowment Fund supported by the Pacific Salmon Foundation and the BC Leading Edge Endowment Fund.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Aquatic Science
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article