Reproductive life-history strategies in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from the Laurentian Great Lakes

Abstract

Recent food-web changes in the Laurentian Great Lakes are affecting energy and nutrient allocation to lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) with potential downstream effects on egg condition and recruitment. We tested whether egg condition was conserved or varied with maternal condition in eight stocks from Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Superior. Egg condition was conserved across stocks based on (i) a lack of correlation between females and eggs for total lipid, DHA, and other essential fatty acids; (ii) higher levels of energy and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) in eggs compared with females; and (iii) no among-stock differences for those same variables in eggs. Females from northern Lake Michigan generally made the greatest trade-offs between egg size and fecundity. Highly fecund females provisioned less lipid, but more n-3 LC-PUFA to their eggs. A lack of stock-level patterns in energy and nutrient allocation suggests that trade-offs occur at the level of individual females and that females in poor condition make greater trade-offs among egg size and fecundity, total lipids, and n-3 LC-PUFA than females in good condition.