The effects of temperature on food consumption, growth rate, and somatic indices in the winter-dormant cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus)
| dc.contributor.advisor | Speers-Roesch, Ben | |
| dc.contributor.author | Watson, Melina | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-03-02T23:42:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-03-02T23:42:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020 | |
| dc.description.abstract | As fish are ectotherms, temperature is an important environmental factor, making the cold and poor food availability of winter a critical constraint. Winter dormancy (sheltering, inactive state involving reduced or no feeding) can be a strategy utilized to survive winter. I investigated a winter-dormant fish, the cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus), to test the hypothesis that fasting is an obligate behavior of dormancy. I predicted that cunner exposed to temperatures below the dormancy threshold (~7.3°C) will have a higher thermal sensitivity to food consumption than those held above the threshold. I recorded the daily food consumption and growth rate in cunner over 28 days at several seasonal temperatures (15°C, 12°C, 9°C, 6°C, and 3°C). Even when food was available below the dormancy threshold, cunner did not feed or fed at an extremely low level, which constrained growth at approximately 9°C. Thus, appetite and growth are greatly, or even completely, suppressed during dormancy. | |
| dc.description.copyright | This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. | |
| dc.format | text/xml | |
| dc.format.extent | vi, 36 pages | |
| dc.format.medium | electronic | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://unbscholar.lib.unb.ca/handle/1882/22322 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_CA | |
| dc.publisher | University of New Brunswick | |
| dc.rights | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 | |
| dc.subject.discipline | Biology | |
| dc.title | The effects of temperature on food consumption, growth rate, and somatic indices in the winter-dormant cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus) | |
| dc.type | bachelor thesis | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Biology | |
| thesis.degree.fullname | Bachelor of Science with Honours in Marine Biology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of New Brunswick | |
| thesis.degree.level | undergraduate | |
| thesis.degree.name | B.Sc. |
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