Smolting in post-sexually mature male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) parr in the wild

Lothian, A. J. , Rodger, J., Wilkie, L., Walters, M., Miller, R., Conroy, C., Marshall, S., MacKenzie, M. and Adams, C. E. (2023) Smolting in post-sexually mature male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) parr in the wild. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, (doi: 10.1111/eff.12755) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Conflicts can arise in developmental pathways that prevent an individual entering different developmental life stages that result in the expression of different phenotypes within a specific time period. In salmonids, theory suggests that sexual maturation may inhibit subsequent smolting within the same 12-month period and that this is partly the result of the time and the apparently conflicting physiological changes for these processes to occur, and partly because of the energy requirements for these physiologically taxing processes. This study tested whether sexually mature male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) parr, caught in the autumn, would subsequently smolt the following spring. Through individual identification using PIT telemetry, minimum estimates of 3.0% (n = 6/203) and 5.9% (n = 1/17) of Atlantic salmon parr that were sexually mature in two river catchments during the autumn were subsequently identified as smolts in the following spring. We therefore suggest that, in line with previous studies on domesticated Atlantic salmon and laboratory-based experiments, there is no developmental conflict but that life-history expression is mediated by environmental and genetic processes.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding for PIT tags was provided by the Missing Salmon Alliance and Grosvenor's Reay Forest Estate as part of the Project Deveron and Project Laxford, respectively.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rodger, Dr Jessica and Lothian, Dr Angus and Adams, Professor Colin

Creator Roles

Lothian, A.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing
Rodger, J.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – review and editing
Adams, C.: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Lothian, A. J., Rodger, J., Wilkie, L., Walters, M., Miller, R., Conroy, C., Marshall, S., MacKenzie, M., and Adams, C. E.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Ecology of Freshwater Fish
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0906-6691
• ISSN (Online): 1600-0633
• Published Online: 24 September 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Ecology of Freshwater Fish 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license