A model of survival and growth of striped bass larvae Morone saxatilis in the Potomac River, 1987

Abstract

Key factors in the model were striped bass egg production, water temperature, surface light and penetration, turbidity and zooplankton concentration. Growth and survival were simulated from the predicted effects of turbidity, light at depth, and zooplankton concentration. Predation terms simulated survival under different predation pressures. The model estimated daily instantaneous growth rates ranging from -0.07 to 0.19 d-1. The model predicted poor survival and growth of cohorts produced early in the spawning season when water tmeperatures and zooplankton concentration were low. Mortality of eggs was predicted to be 54%, with most mortality attributable to low temperatures early in the spawning season. Simulated growth rates ranged widely and were highest in the down river sections of the Potomac. The difference between modeled and field observed larval abundances estimated a rate of mortality for "other' causes at 13.7% d-1, a rate that can readily be attributed to predation. -from Author