Histological evidence of reproductive senescence in Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus)

Abstract

Senescence is the age-specific decline in fitness of adult organisms principally associated with a decline in survival rate (actuarial senescence) and fecundity (reproductive senescence). Although common in natural populations of many taxa, there are few examples in fishes. A recent study found age-specific increases in the relative frequency of macroscopically non-reproductive Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758), consistent with reproductive senescence in a number of Canadian populations. However, a non-adaptive explanation for these patterns, unrelated to senescence, could not be definitively ruled out. Here, we present the results of histological examination of herring gonads undertaken to examine this and another hypothesis. The sample size of macroscopically senescent gonads was small (n = 4 females), a function of the low abundance of large, older, purportedly senescent, herring in these populations subjected to high mortality rates, and constraints on obtaining fresh samples. The results indicate that these fish were senescent and not merely skip spawning, providing further evidence of senescence and the occurrence of a post-reproductive period in herring in Atlantic Canada. Based on existing theory for the evolution of senescence, observations of actuarial senescence in Norwegian spring-spawning herring suggest that this population may also experience reproductive senescence and that the phenomenon may occur broadly in the species.