Impacted Stress: A Causal Agent of Reduced Whitefish (Coregonus Iavaretus) Egg Incubation Time

Abstract

The purpose of these experiments was to investigate whether whitefish (Coregonus Iavaretus) eggs subjected to induced agitation had a shorter incubation period to hatching than undisturbed incubating eggs. Eyed eggs were divided into four main groups: two incubated at river temperatures and two incubated in heated water. River temperature was 2 °C at the beginning of the experiment and increased to more than 10 °C at hatching. Heated water temperatures varied between 6.5 and 8.5 °C. One sample with four replicates at each incubating water temperature was continuously agitated with flowing water, while two samples with four replicates each were incubated undisturbed. At both temperatures, eggs kept in motion by flowing water hatched at fewer degree-days (heated water: 380 ± 6.4, natural water: 417 ± 6.6) from fertilization to 50% hatching than those laying undisturbed (heated water: 513 ± 10.5, natural water: 470 ± 7.3). Eggs agitated during incubation hatched with greater synchrony than those incubated undisturbed. Larvae incubated at river temperatures were larger than those incubated in heated water. Our findings revealed that eggs can hatch at different incubation stages during the ontogeny when exposed to varying environmental stimuli.