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General Session 4: Marine environment, ecosystem & sustainability |
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Factors affecting the health and fitness of Juvenile winter flounder: Associations between data from the cellular to population level
Monday 9th @ 1400-1425
Room 1
Anne McElroy* , School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University
Presenter Email: anne.mcelroy@gmail.com
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| Populations of inshore adult and juvenile winter flounder are at severely depressed despite reduced fishing pressure. Survival of post-settlement juveniles in shallow coastal estuaries is likely a bottleneck to successful recruitment and recovery from previous overfishing. In a two year field assessment conducted across six sites on the South Shore of Long Island representing a gradient in population density and sewage inputs, we sought to identify factors contributing to mortality and reduced growth in flounder by assessing population status, individual condition and growth, expression of genes associated with contaminant exposure, immune response and glucose and glycogen metabolism and environmental variables such as temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen. Relationships among variables assessed were complex, in most cases requiring detailed multivariate analysis to discern relationships. Overall, population status is poor with high levels of mortality and extensive inbreeding. Principal components analysis and hierarchical linear models demonstrated significant associations between growth and various condition factors, age, and expression of genes associated with contaminant exposure, immune response, and glucose and glycogen metabolism. |
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