| GROWTH OF COD LARVAE IN A WEST GREENLANDIC FJORD EFFECT OF LOCATION ON LARVAL DEVELOPMENT IN A SUBARCTIC POPULATION |
| SWALETHORP, Rasmus, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Section of Ocean Ecology and Climate, DTU Aqua, Technical University of Denmark, Kavalergrden 6, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark, rsw@aqua.dtu.dk; Peter Munk and Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Greenland Climate Research Centre, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Kivioq 2, P.O. Box 570, 3900 Nuuk, Greenland |
| The Godthbsfjord is the largest fjord system on the West Greenlandic coast and houses the largest inshore stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). An important spawning site of this inshore population is located within a shallow area at the end of the fjord branch Kapisigdlit. With the aim of gaining more insight into the early life history of this cod stock we carried out a seasonal study in 2010 across the entire fjord branch. The egg development and larval distributions, abundances and growth was studied from late March to early August. Age and growth were estimated from analysis of the daily-ring patterns in lapillus otoliths from larvae in the size range 3 to 33 mm. Our results indicate spatial differences in the development rate of eggs, the rate being highest in the shallowest area. For larvae, a relatively high growth of 0.5 mm d-1 was estimated and findings indicate that survival was enhanced in the shallow spawning area compared to deeper areas of the fjord. The relatively high growth rates are seen as support of the hypothesis that the longer periods of daylight at higher latitudes could enhance larval growth through prolonged feeding as compared to lower latitudes. |
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