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The Growth, Abundance and Diet of O-Group Sea Bass, Dicentrarchus Labrax, From the Severn Estuary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Miran W. Aprahamian  and
Christine Dickson Barr
Miran W. Aprahamian
Affiliation:
Freshwater Fisheries, Department of Zoology, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX
Christine Dickson Barr
Affiliation:
Freshwater Fisheries, Department of Zoology, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX
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Extract

Eggs of Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) have been collected from the mouth of rivers or inshore waters of salinity greater than 30 p.p.t. (Barnabé, 1978; Kennedy & Fitzmaurice, 1972). The main spawning period is between April and June (Kelley, 1979; Kennedy & Fitzmaurice, 1968), though ripe males have been reported as early as February and as late as mid-July (Kennedy & Fitzmaurice, 1972). The fertilised eggs 1·15—1·51 mm in diameter, are pelagic, take between two and five days to hatch and the prolarvae are 3·25—4·05 mm in length when they emerge (Barnabé, 1976; Bertolini, 1933, pp. 310–331; Lumare & Villani, 1973; Jackman, 1954). Postlarval stages have been recorded from the Bristol Channel in mid-June and mid-July (Russell, 1980) as well as off Plymouth between mid-March and mid-July (Russell, 1935, 1976; Russell & Demir, 1971). Although a few juveniles have been encountered, from the middle and lower reaches of estuaries, during their first summer (Kennedy & Fitzmaurice, 1972), it is not until the autumn/winter that relatively large numbers of o + bass have been reported from British estuaries (Claridge & Potter, 1983; Hardisty & Huggins, 1975; Hartley, 1940; Murie, 1903; Van den Broek, 1977; Wheeler, 1979). Juvenile bass have also been recorded from lagoons and coastal waters, during their first summer, indicating that these are important nursery areas (Arias, 1980; Barnabé, 1978; Chervinski & Lourie, 1972; Ferrari & Chieregato, 1981; Gandolfi, Rossi & Tongiorgi, 1981).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , February 1985 , pp. 169 - 180
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1985

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