ABSTRACT: Mature age structure has been recognized as an important determinant of fecundity in fish populations. More recently it has been demonstrated that in some species, older, larger females can produce faster-growing and more viable larvae than younger, smaller females. We investigated this effect in sea perch Helicolenus percoides and collected information on fecundity as well as notochord length and oil globule volume (OGV) of larvae on the day of parturition, time to 50% mortality, and rate of change in length and OGV of cohorts of larvae in fed and unfed treatments. Absolute fecundity increased proportionally with maternal age and total length. Older, larger females produced cohorts of larvae with larger OGVs. These cohorts also had faster positive rates of change in length in the fed treatment than did cohorts of larvae produced by younger, smaller females. The OGV was positively correlated with rates of change in length and survival in the fed treatment; however, we did not detect influences on growth or survival in the unfed treatment. Further, cohorts of larvae in the unfed treatment had negative rates of change in length and lower survival compared to cohorts in the fed treatment. The results indicated that the OGV, which was affected by maternal age and size, was an important factor influencing larval growth and viability when external energy sources were available. These data provide insight into the reproductive biology of sea perch and highlight the importance of an old-growth age structure for effective larval viability and growth.

中文翻译：

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产妇的年龄，身长和体重会影响产卵温带珊瑚鱼Helicolenus percoides的幼虫特性和生存能力

摘要：成熟的年龄结构已被认为是鱼类种群繁殖力的重要决定因素。最近的研究表明，在某些物种中，年龄较大，雌性较大的幼虫可以比年龄较小，雌性较小的幼虫生长更快，更可行。我们调查了海鲈Helicolenus percoides中的这种作用并收集了有关分娩当天幼虫的繁殖力，脊索长度和幼虫油球体积（OGV），达到50％死亡率的时间以及进食和未进食处理的幼虫队列长度和OGV变化率的信息。绝对生殖力与产妇年龄和总长成正比。年龄较大，体型较大的雌性产生了具有较大OGV的幼虫。这些队列在喂食治疗中的长度变化阳性率也比年轻，较小的雌性所产生的幼虫队列快。OGV与喂养治疗的长度和存活率变化率呈正相关。然而，在未进食的治疗中，我们没有发现对生长或存活的影响。进一步，与喂食治疗组相比，未喂食治疗组的幼虫的长度变化率为负，生存率较低。结果表明，受母亲年龄和体型影响的OGV是在可获得外部能源时影响幼虫生长和生存力的重要因素。这些数据提供了对海鲈生殖生物学的深入了解，并强调了老龄结构对有效幼体生存能力和生长的重要性。