Diet composition has a greater effect on larval and juvenile polar cod (Boreogadus saida) growth rates than temperature in a warming Pacific Arctic

Details

• Journal Title:
  Continental Shelf Research
• Personal Author:
  Goldstein, Esther D. ; Axler, Kelia E. ; Lamb, Jesse F. ; Rogers, Matthew C. ; Duffy-Anderson, Janet T.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center)
• Description:
  The relative influences of temperature and diet on growth of marine fish are especially relevant in high-latitude ecosystems where warming temperatures and loss of sea ice alter the thermal and feeding environment for cold-adapted species. Larval and juvenile fish may be particularly vulnerable to warming since access to favorable habitats in the spring and summer is necessary for growth and overwinter survival. Therefore, we focused on three warm, low-ice years (2017-2019) in the Chukchi Sea and on a nodal forage fish species in Arctic food webs (polar cod: Boreogadus saida) to better understand the influences of warming temperatures and diet on growth during the first year of life. Paired diet data from gut content analysis and daily otolith-derived growth rates indicated that diet had a greater impact on growth than temperature. Generalized additive models that included diet information explained a large portion of variability in recent growth [5-d average preceding capture; coefficient of determination (R2) 0.43-0.45] compared to those that excluded diet but incorporated temperature and salinity (R2 = 0.06-0.07) and a year effect (R2 = 0.20-0.30). Relationships between diet and growth suggest that polar cod fed on a range of taxa during warm years but benefited from access to remnant sea-ice-associated prey such as Calanus glacialis copepods. Larval and juvenile polar cod may be resilient to warming temperatures if preferential high-quality prey persists into the summer, but sea-ice retreat and inundation of subarctic zooplankton earlier in the year could have detrimental impacts on polar cod growth and survival.
• Keywords:
  Boreogadus Saida Fishes—Larvae Ocean Temperature Otoliths Boreogadus Saida Ocean Temperature Compound-specific stable isotope analysis of amino acids
• Source:
  Continental Shelf Research 300 (2026) 105694
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2026.105694
• Format:
  PDF
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Chukchi Sea
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8d4c15a6dbe39b353729989e750169461b3565727de17f33f5175c9c600c5b1df35ef68f1c0e1b723de70c0cb6c12e130b5007b338b05ad4c1f176a3501da56b
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/73677/noaa_73677_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.33 MB ]