Life History Plasticity of the Blacktail Shiner (Cyprinella
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LIFE HISTORY PLASTICITY OF THE BLACKTAIL SHINER (CYPRINELLA VENUSTA) ACROSS DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS IN ALABAMA STREAMS Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this thesis is my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee. This thesis does not include proprietary or classified information. ______________________________ Lemuel Robles Casten Certificate of approval: __________________________ __________________________ George W. Folkerts Carol E. Johnston, Chair Professor Associate Professor Biological Sciences Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures __________________________ __________________________ Russell A. Wright Stephen L. McFarland Associate Professor Acting Dean Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures Graduate School LIFE HISTORY PLASTICITY OF THE BLACKTAIL SHINER (CYPRINELLA VENUSTA) ACROSS DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS IN ALABAMA STREAMS Lemuel Robles Casten A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Auburn, Alabama August 7, 2006 LIFE HISTORY PLASTICITY OF THE BLACKTAIL SHINER (CYPRINELLA VENUSTA) ACROSS DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS IN ALABAMA STREAMS Lemuel Robles Casten Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its direction, upon request of individuals or institutions and at their expense. The author reserves all publication rights. __________________________ Signature of Author __________________________ Date of Graduation iii VITA Lemuel Robles Casten, was born in Iloilo City, Philippines on February 21, 1975. He attended the University of the Philippines in the Visayas and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries in 1997. After graduation, he worked as fisheries officer for the International Marinelife Alliance and was research assistant for FishBase and LarvalBase Projects of the WorldFish Center from 1999-2004. While working full-time, he attended the University of the Philippines - Diliman and earned a graduate Diploma in Environmental Science in 2002. On July 2004, he moved to Auburn, Alabama and began graduate school at the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures of Auburn University on August 2004. iv THESIS ABSTRACT LIFE HISTORY PLASTICITY OF THE BLACKTAIL SHINER (CYPRINELLA VENUSTA) ACROSS DISTURBANCE GRADIENTS IN ALABAMA STREAMS Lemuel Robles Casten Master of Science, August 7, 2006 (Diploma, University of the Philippines - Diliman, 2002) (B.S., University of the Philippines in the Visayas, 1997) 78 Typed Pages Directed by Carol E. Johnston Four populations of the blacktail shiner, Cyprinella venusta were studied to determine life history parameter variation across disturbance gradients in Alabama streams. Consistent with life history theory, fishes from the degraded site were significantly smaller than fishes from sites with minimal disturbance. Fishes from the degraded site had the smallest size at maturity and the smallest propagule size. Clutch sizes adjusted for standard length (SL) varied among populations. Egg diameters were not related to SL among populations. There was no significant difference in mature egg diameters; however ripening egg v diameters differed among populations. There was no difference in gonad mass in females for all spawning months; however, there were differences in gonad mass in males in July. Gonadosomatic index (GSI) peaked in July for both males and females. Reproductive males were still present in September for three populations but all females from all populations had become latent by September, indicating that spawning season has ended. The results of this study suggest that Cyprinella venusta has the ability to alter life history parameters in harsh environments and may be a factor contributing to its persistence in habitats where other species are declining. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Russell Wright and Dr. George Folkerts for their helpful suggestions and timely assistance with this thesis, and my major advisor, Dr. Carol Johnston for giving me a chance to attend graduate school and work under her tutelage. Without her patience, mentoring and valuable guidance, completion of this thesis would not have been possible. I would also thank Ben Beck, Phillip Cleveland, Andrew Henderson, Dan Holt, Adam Kennon, Nick Ozburn, Mingkang (Joe) Jiang, Wendy Seesock and Oyie Umali for helping in various aspects of this project. This thesis was supported in part by the Alabama State Wildlife Grants Program (SWG). vii Style manual or journal used: Copeia Computer software used: Microsoft Office Word 2003, Microsoft Office Excel 2003, ESRI ArcMap version 9.1, SAS 9.1, SPSS 11.0 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………..xi LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………..xiii INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….1 METHODS………………………………………………………………………………….8 Study species………………………………………………………………………..8 Study sites……………………………………………………………………………9 Field and laboratory data collection……………………………………………...12 Statistical analyses………………………………………………………………...14 RESULTS…………………………………………………………………………………16 Sex ratio………………………………………………………………………….....16 Standard length…………………………………………………………………….16 Size at maturity…………………………………………………………………….17 Demographics……………………………………………………………………...18 Clutch size………………………………………………………………………….19 Gonad mass………………………………………………………………………..20 Egg diameter……………………………………………………………………….21 Egg mass…………………………………………………………………………...23 Gonadosomatic index……………………………………………………………..24 ix Page DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………..26 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………….33 LITERATURE CITED………………………………………………………………………35 x LIST OF TABLES Page TABLE 1. MEAN STANDARD LENGTH (SL IN mm) OF Cyprinella venusta DURING THE SPAWNING SEASON FROM FOUR POPULATIONS IN THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER DRAINAGE. Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations. Means with same letters are not significantly different. UC 39 = Uchee Creek 39, UC 169 = Uchee Creek 169, MM = Moffits Mill, WC = Wacoochee Creek……...45 TABLE 2. STATISTICS FOR CLUTCH SIZE-STANDARD LENGTH RELATIONSHIPS FOR FOUR POPULATIONS OF Cyprinella venusta. All values were log10 transformed prior to analysis………………………………………………………………………...46 TABLE 3. MONTHLY SL-ADJUSTED MEAN CLUTCH SIZES FOR EACH POPULATION OF Cyprinella venusta. Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations. Means with same letters are not significantly different……………………………………..47 TABLE 4. MONTHLY MEAN GONAD MASS OF FEMALES (g) FOR EACH POPULATION OF Cyprinella venusta. Standard deviation in parentheses…………………………...48 TABLE 5. MONTHLY MEAN GONAD MASS OF MALES (g) FOR EACH POPULATION OF Cyprinella venusta. Standard deviation in parentheses…………………………...49 TABLE 6. MEAN MATURE EGG DIAMETER (mm) OF Cyprinella venusta FROM FOUR POPULATIONS IN THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER DRAINAGE. Standard deviation in parentheses…………………………………………………………………………….50 TABLE 7. MEAN RIPENING EGG DIAMETER (mm) OF Cyprinella venusta FROM FOUR POPULATIONS IN THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER DRAINAGE. Numbers in parentheses are standard deviations. Means with same letters are not significantly different…………………………………………………………………..51 TABLE 8. MEAN MATURE EGG MASS (g) DURING SPAWNING MONTHS FOR Cyprinella venusta. Means with same letters are not significantly different. Standard deviation in parentheses………………………………………………….52 TABLE 9. MEANS FOR RIPENING EGG MASS (g) DURING SPAWNING MONTHS FOR Cyprinella venusta. Standard deviation in parentheses……………………..53 xi Page TABLE 10. GONADOSOMATIC INDEX (GSI) OF Cyprinella venusta FEMALES DURING SPAWNING MONTHS. Standard deviation in parentheses………………….54 TABLE 11. MONTHLY GSI MEANS FOR THE FOUR POPULATIONS OF Cyprinella venusta MALES. Means with same letters are not significantly different. Standard deviation in parentheses…………………………………………………..55 xii LIST OF FIGURES Page Fig. 1. Sampling localities of Cyprinella venusta populations within the Chattahoochee River drainage in Alabama, USA………………………………….56 Fig. 2. Size at maturity of Cyprinella venusta females. Females with early maturing (EM) ovarian stages were considered sexually mature. A total of 2311 females were examined to determine size at maturity. Solid line represents mean temperature for each site………………………………………...57 Fig. 3. Size at maturity of Cyprinella venusta males (n=128). Solid line represents mean temperature for each site………………………………………...58 Fig. 4. Length-frequency histograms for Cyprinella venusta taken from four populations along the Chattahoochee River drainage from May to November 2005……………………………………………………………………………………..59 Fig. 5. Monthly changes in SL-adjusted mean clutch size of Cyprinella venusta from four sites in the Chattahoochee River drainage. Clutch sizes peaked in May to June and starts to drop as eggs were being spawned (F = 4.31, n = 408, P = 0.0053)………………………………………………………60 Fig. 6. Monthly variation in mean gonad mass of Cyprinella venusta females from the Chattahoochee River drainage. Gonad mass peaked in June for all populations (F = 2.1, n = 408, P = 0.1002)………………………………………61 Fig. 7. Monthly variation in mean gonad mass of Cyprinella venusta males from the Chattahoochee River drainage. Significant differences of gonad mass only in July. Gonad mass from Uchee Creek 39 males was significantly smaller than the gonad mass of Uchee Creek 169 males. n = 128………………………………………………………………………………….62 Fig. 8. Monthly variation in gonadosomatic indices (GSI) of female Cyprinella venusta from four sites in the Chattahoochee River drainage. There were no significant differences