Data are presented on the life history of snake
pricklebacks, Lumpenus sagitta, collected in Yaquina Bay,
Oregon, from June 1977 to October 1978. Specimens were
collected primarily by beach seine from four sampling sites
in the bay. Snake pricklebacks feed on algae (mainly genus
Enteromorpha), on polychaeta (mainly genus Neoamphitrite),
on crustacea (mainly harpacticoida), and other bottomdwelling
organisms. They were non-selective in feeding.
Based on gonado-somatic indices and egg diameter, I found
that snake pricklebacks probably spawn near the end of fall
and during winter. Fecundity was positively correlated
with standard length of the fish and had a correlation
coefficient of 0.85. The number of eggs per fish varied
from 2,277 to 6,100 with a mean fecundity of 4,089 eggs.
Otoliths are more useful than scales for determining the age
of the snake pricklebacks. There is agreement between ages
as established by the length-frequency method and those
established by the otolith method only until age two. The
length-weight relationship was described by the model
Ln W = Ln a + b Ln L. The value of the constant "b" was
lower than 3.0 for both males and females and varied from
2.33 to 2.78. Females showed a larger constant "b" than
males during both years of sampling. Length and weight was
correlated for males and females and for sexes combined with
"r" values ranging from 0.94 to 0.98. In static bioassays,
low salinities (<1.0 ppt) and high temperatures (>20.0 C)
deleteriously affected the survival of snake pricklebacks. / Graduation date: 1980
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27974 |
| Date | 27 August 1979 |
| Creators | Tresierra-Aguilar, Alvaro |
| Contributors | Horton, Howard F. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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