Larger eggs in resident brown trout living in sympatry with anadromous brown trout

Abstract

Abstract– Freshwater resident brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in the stream Jorlandaan (southwestern Sweden) had larger eggs (range of actual mean egg wet weights, 65.9–108.5 mg) than both sympatric migratory trout (76.8–84.2 mg) and trout from five other Swedish streams with allopatric resident (23.7–80.1 mg) or migratory populations (44.5–121.9 mg), after accounting for differences in body size. In Jörlandaån, some resident females even had a larger absolute mean egg weight than any of the migratory females found in the stream. Resident trout had low absolute fecundity, and our data suggest that resident females in Jörlandån produce large eggs at the expense of their fecundity. The extremely large relative egg size in resident Jörlandaån females suggests that the production of large offspring enhances fitness, possibly through increased fry survival.