Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood

This study describes the first successful rearing of capelin from hatch to adulthood in a laboratory setting using intensive culture methods. Over the span of about two years, the capelin were reared in aquaculture tanks under a constant temperature of 7 °C. The capelin demonstrated a robust linear...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tómas Árnason, Birkir Bárðarson, Agnar Steinarsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Fishes
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/9/11/460
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846153606844121088
author Tómas Árnason
Birkir Bárðarson
Agnar Steinarsson
author_facet Tómas Árnason
Birkir Bárðarson
Agnar Steinarsson
author_sort Tómas Árnason
collection DOAJ
description This study describes the first successful rearing of capelin from hatch to adulthood in a laboratory setting using intensive culture methods. Over the span of about two years, the capelin were reared in aquaculture tanks under a constant temperature of 7 °C. The capelin demonstrated a robust linear growth during their first year of life, with a mean length increment of 0.36 mm per day. Due to their accelerated growth, some of the capelin became sexually mature as early as one year post-hatch. The first year was characterized by a rapid increase in condition factor (CF) while the second year showed a plateau. The von Bertalanffy growth equation effectively described the two-year growth of the cultivated capelin, predicting an asymptotic length (L∞) of 18.4 cm, similar to the 18.6 cm median L∞ of wild Icelandic capelin (1981–2018 cohorts). The cultivated capelin were projected to reach this length in 2.6 years, compared to about 6 years for wild capelin. This study provides new insights into the growth dynamics of capelin and although the species is sensitive to handling, it demonstrates that intensive culture methods can be used to investigate biological aspects of this important forage species.
format Article
id doaj-art-a4bb1a339b454c00b93f02a4782ae021
institution Kabale University
issn 2410-3888
language English
publishDate 2024-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Fishes
spelling doaj-art-a4bb1a339b454c00b93f02a4782ae0212024-11-26T18:04:02ZengMDPI AGFishes2410-38882024-11-0191146010.3390/fishes9110460Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to AdulthoodTómas Árnason0Birkir Bárðarson1Agnar Steinarsson2Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, IS-240 Grindavík, IcelandMarine and Freshwater Research Institute, IS-220 Hafnarfjörður, IcelandMarine and Freshwater Research Institute, IS-240 Grindavík, IcelandThis study describes the first successful rearing of capelin from hatch to adulthood in a laboratory setting using intensive culture methods. Over the span of about two years, the capelin were reared in aquaculture tanks under a constant temperature of 7 °C. The capelin demonstrated a robust linear growth during their first year of life, with a mean length increment of 0.36 mm per day. Due to their accelerated growth, some of the capelin became sexually mature as early as one year post-hatch. The first year was characterized by a rapid increase in condition factor (CF) while the second year showed a plateau. The von Bertalanffy growth equation effectively described the two-year growth of the cultivated capelin, predicting an asymptotic length (L∞) of 18.4 cm, similar to the 18.6 cm median L∞ of wild Icelandic capelin (1981–2018 cohorts). The cultivated capelin were projected to reach this length in 2.6 years, compared to about 6 years for wild capelin. This study provides new insights into the growth dynamics of capelin and although the species is sensitive to handling, it demonstrates that intensive culture methods can be used to investigate biological aspects of this important forage species.https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/9/11/460<i>Mallotus villosus</i>laboratory rearinggrowthcondition factorfeedingasymptotic length
spellingShingle Tómas Árnason
Birkir Bárðarson
Agnar Steinarsson
Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
Fishes
<i>Mallotus villosus</i>
laboratory rearing
growth
condition factor
feeding
asymptotic length
title Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
title_full Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
title_fullStr Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
title_full_unstemmed Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
title_short Cultivation and Growth Dynamics of Capelin (<i>Mallotus villosus</i>) from Hatch to Adulthood
title_sort cultivation and growth dynamics of capelin i mallotus villosus i from hatch to adulthood
topic <i>Mallotus villosus</i>
laboratory rearing
growth
condition factor
feeding
asymptotic length
url https://www.mdpi.com/2410-3888/9/11/460
work_keys_str_mv AT tomasarnason cultivationandgrowthdynamicsofcapelinimallotusvillosusifromhatchtoadulthood
AT birkirbarðarson cultivationandgrowthdynamicsofcapelinimallotusvillosusifromhatchtoadulthood
AT agnarsteinarsson cultivationandgrowthdynamicsofcapelinimallotusvillosusifromhatchtoadulthood