Relationship of egg and hatchling size to incubation temperature in the multiple-spawning fish Gnathopogon caerulescens (Honmoroko)

Abstract

Egg size affects larval size, growth rate, survival and fecundity with maternal fitness being maximized by a trade-off between egg size and fecundity. Production of a small number of large eggs maximizes female fitness under poor food conditions, as does a large number of small eggs under rich food conditions. Gnathopogon caerulescens (Honmoroko) spawns over a wide range of water temperature from spring to summer. Thus, we determined whether or not egg size varied with water temperature and how egg size influenced hatchling size at different water temperature. Changes in egg size strongly correlated with seasonal changes in water temperature around the lake, regardless of time and area. An experiment using eggs from the lake indicated that hatchling size has a significant positive relationship with egg size in water temperatures of 24 °C. On the other hand, a lower incubation temperature, similar to that likely to be encountered at the beginning of the spawning season, resulted in a smaller hatchling size, eggs requiring a longer time to hatch. At the beginning of the spawning season, therefore, egg size may have a lesser impact on hatching size in the natural environment of Honmoroko because of the relatively lower temperatures. Although fish larvae below a certain threshold of effective body size are generally not expected to have a high early survival rate due to, for example, a lower competitive ability or a high susceptibility to predation, seasonal egg size variation in Honmoroko may be adaptive so as to enhance the likehood of early survival by establishing an effective body size under changing water temperature conditions.