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Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region

Samples of adult anchovy and plankton were collected on Sea Fisheries Research Institute R.S. Africana 1984-1985 anchovy spawner biomass estimation cruises. A total of 40 sets of anchovy samples of 30 fish each and 40 plankton samples were taken roughly at the same time within an area of intensive s...

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Main Author: Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
Other Authors: Griffiths, Charles L
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
author2 Griffiths, Charles L
author_browse Griffiths, Charles L
Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
author_facet Griffiths, Charles L
Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
author_sort Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
collection Thesis
description Samples of adult anchovy and plankton were collected on Sea Fisheries Research Institute R.S. Africana 1984-1985 anchovy spawner biomass estimation cruises. A total of 40 sets of anchovy samples of 30 fish each and 40 plankton samples were taken roughly at the same time within an area of intensive spawning over the Agulhas Bank, using an Engels 308 midwater trawl and a CalVET net respectively. Fish samples were frozen in a deep freeze at 20° C shortly after capture. Plankton samples were stored in formaldehyde solution. Fish were measured (total length), weighed (total and ovary mass) and de-stomached. Weight of the stomach contents were determined and anchovy eggs in the stomach were counted. Anchovy eggs in CalVET net samples were counted and staged. Frequency distributions of densities of eggs in the plankton on the Agulhas Bank and off the West Coast were plotted to compare egg density in the two areas. Approximately 53% of the eggs caught over Agulhas Bank occurred in only 25% of samples, indicating a patchy distribution. A frequency distribution was plotted of abundance of eggs in the stomachs of fish. Egg patchiness caused a skewed frequency distribution of egg abundance in anchovy stomachs. Feeding time was estimated from an examination of the relationship between weight of stomach contents versus time of day, taking into account time for gut evacuation. Based upon a developmental stage/temperature/age key, mortality rates of eggs in the sea were calculated, and it was estimated that 44% of anchovy eggs were lost daily. Taking into account estimated rates of egg mortality, egg production, gastric evacuation rate, number of eggs eaten and feeding time, cannibalism was estimated to account for about 62%-70% of the egg mortality. The rate of cannibalism was shown to be consistent with a density-dependent functional response.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:56.154Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17363 Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes Griffiths, Charles L Field, John G Zoology Samples of adult anchovy and plankton were collected on Sea Fisheries Research Institute R.S. Africana 1984-1985 anchovy spawner biomass estimation cruises. A total of 40 sets of anchovy samples of 30 fish each and 40 plankton samples were taken roughly at the same time within an area of intensive spawning over the Agulhas Bank, using an Engels 308 midwater trawl and a CalVET net respectively. Fish samples were frozen in a deep freeze at 20° C shortly after capture. Plankton samples were stored in formaldehyde solution. Fish were measured (total length), weighed (total and ovary mass) and de-stomached. Weight of the stomach contents were determined and anchovy eggs in the stomach were counted. Anchovy eggs in CalVET net samples were counted and staged. Frequency distributions of densities of eggs in the plankton on the Agulhas Bank and off the West Coast were plotted to compare egg density in the two areas. Approximately 53% of the eggs caught over Agulhas Bank occurred in only 25% of samples, indicating a patchy distribution. A frequency distribution was plotted of abundance of eggs in the stomachs of fish. Egg patchiness caused a skewed frequency distribution of egg abundance in anchovy stomachs. Feeding time was estimated from an examination of the relationship between weight of stomach contents versus time of day, taking into account time for gut evacuation. Based upon a developmental stage/temperature/age key, mortality rates of eggs in the sea were calculated, and it was estimated that 44% of anchovy eggs were lost daily. Taking into account estimated rates of egg mortality, egg production, gastric evacuation rate, number of eggs eaten and feeding time, cannibalism was estimated to account for about 62%-70% of the egg mortality. The rate of cannibalism was shown to be consistent with a density-dependent functional response. 2016-02-29T12:06:06Z 2016-02-29T12:06:06Z 1986 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17363 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Zoology
Rodriguez, Edy Sylvia Valdes
Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
title_full Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
title_fullStr Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
title_full_unstemmed Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
title_short Egg cannibalism by anchovy in the Southern Benguela Current Region
title_sort egg cannibalism by anchovy in the southern benguela current region
topic Zoology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17363
work_keys_str_mv AT rodriguezedysylviavaldes eggcannibalismbyanchovyinthesouthernbenguelacurrentregion