Metamorphosis and estuarine colonisation in the common sole, Solea solea (L.): Implications for recruitment regulation
Amara, R.; Lagardere, F.; Desaunay, Y.; Marchand, J. (2000). Metamorphosis and estuarine colonisation in the common sole, Solea solea (L.): Implications for recruitment regulation. Oceanol. Acta 23(4): 469-484. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0399-1784(00)00134-1 In: Oceanologica Acta. Elsevier/Gauthier-Villars: Montreuil. ISSN 0399-1784; e-ISSN 1878-4143, more | |
Keywords | Biological phenomena > Metamorphosis Biological settlement > Larval settlement Colonization Estuarine environment Population functions > Recruitment Taxa > Species > Commercial species Solea solea (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS] Marine/Coastal |
Authors | | Top | - Amara, R., more
- Lagardere, F.
- Desaunay, Y.
- Marchand, J.
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Abstract | Processes involved in both metamorphosis and settlement of young sole were studied at the population, cohort and individual level in order to evaluate their role in survival and recruitment regulation. Metamorphosis can be defined as a phase of variable duration (10 days on average) at the end of which the larval period of pelagic dissemination is completed. Size at the onset of metamorphosis is considerably less variable than age and is less plastic to environmental change. Metamorphosis is triggered by the acquisition of a competent size and a sufficient store of energy supplies, and occurs without a nutritional crisis or growth arrest. In addition, changes in organogenesis and behaviour that occur during metamorphosis seem to contribute to horizontal transfer, thus favouring a coastal accumulation. The initiation of estuarine colonization is controlled by the hydrological conditions in the bays and estuaries. In the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, metamorphosis does not seem to be a critical period in the life cycle of the sole. On the contrary, some of our observations suggest that it is a time of convergence, when the variability induced during the planktonic larval phase tends to decrease. It is suggested that metamorphosis initiates the processes which dampen variations of pre-recruitment number. |
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