Effect of the female size on egg quality and fecundity of the wild Atlantic salmon in the sub-arctic River Teno

Abstract

Reproduction of the northern Atlantic salmon population was studied to find out the effect of female size on quantity and quality of eggs. Total and relative fecundity of females were used for quantity measures. Size, energy and water contents of eggs and changes in them as well as mortality of eggs during the incubation were used as quality measures. The size of wild female Atlantic salmon had a positive effect on their total number of eggs and on the energy content of eggs. However, the effect of the female size on the egg size was weak and there was no correlation between the female size and relative fecundity. Overall, the benefit of body size was not only quantitative but also qualitative in reproduction success of the River Teno salmon.