Is beach-spawning success for capelin, Mallotus villosus (Müller), a function of the beach?

• Published in: ICES journal of marine science 2002, Vol.59 (5), p.897-908
• Main Authors: Nakashima, Brian S., Taggart, Christopher T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: beach sediments; beach-spawning; capelin; latitude; orientation; spawning
• ISSN: 1054-3139; 1095-9289
• DOI: 10.1006/jmsc.2002.1260

We postulate that the variation in capelin, Mallotus villosus (Müller), egg concentration among spawning beaches in eastern Newfoundland is a function of beach characteristics. This hypothesis is explored by examining relations between egg concentration and beach characteristics among 15 beaches located around the perimeter of Conception Bay. Beaches ranged in mid-tide area from 300 to 8000 m2, in shore-normal orientation from 20 to 330°, in median grain size from 2.4 to 11.3 mm, and in egg concentration from 360 to 4380 cm−2 mid-tide zone. Variations in beach sediment grain-size distributions were captured by variations in the overall rate constant (k) and inflection point (I) of the logistic equation fitted to the cumulative percentage grain-size distributions. Beach orientation explained 57% of the variation in egg concentration among beaches. Orientation and k explained 61% and additional exploratory models explained 80–86% of the variation. Our findings build upon previous reports that describe the significance of the physical environment on the early life history of capelin and provide a quantitative method for classifying the spawning habitat of beach-spawning capelin.