1. Life-History Strategies of Fishes Rainer Froese IfM-GEOMAR

2. Content All data from FishBase Choice of key traits Combinations of traits Life history strategies and Phylogeny Exploring life-history space Testing evolutionary theories Success of life-history strategies

3. Classes of Fishes

4. Phylogeny ClassesOrdersFamiliesGeneraSpecies Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)454674,57327,271 Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes)34411 Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays)1144175961 Holocephali (chimaeras)13637 Cephalaspidomorphi (lampreys)12942 Myxini (hagfishes)11766

5. Key Trait: Size smallmediumlargevery large 23,603 species

6. Size Distribution is Multi-Modal Cumming and Havlicek (2002)

7. Key Trait: Trophic Level 7,161 species herbi- vore omnivorelow-level predatormid-level predator top- predator

8. Key Trait: Productivity (modified after Musick 1999) ParameterHighMediumLowVery low r max (1/year)> 0.50.16 – 0.500.05 – 0.15< 0.05 t d (years)<1.41.4 - 4.44.5 - 14> 14 Interest rate (%)> 6517 – 655 - 16< 5 K (1/year)> 0.30.16 – 0.300.05 – 0.15< 0.05 Fecundity (1/year)> 10,000100 – 100010 – 100< 10 t m (years)< 12 – 45 – 10> 10 t max (years)1 – 34 – 1011 – 30> 30

9. Key Traits: Productivity ProductivitySpeciesPercent Very low26310.5 Low101640.5 Medium87925.0 High35314.0 2,511 species

10. Productivity is a Proxy for Metabolism

11. Trait Correlation: Size vs Troph

12. Trait Correlation: Size vs Productivity

13. Trait Correlation: Trophic Level vs Productivity

14. Phylogeny Limits Traits: Size Hagfish Lampreys Chimaeras Sharks & rays Lobe-finned Ray-finned small medium large very large

15. Phylogeny Limits Traits: Troph Hagfish Lampreys Chimaeras Sharks & rays Lobe-finned Ray-finned

16. Phylogeny Limits Traits: Productivity ClassProductivitySpeciesPercent MyxiniLow66100 CephalaspidomorphiLow1636 Medium25 HolocephaliLow37100 ElasmobranchiiVery low20621 Low52855 SarcopterygiiVery low1091 ActinopterygiiVery low470.2 Low3691.4 Medium8773.2 High3531.3

17. Available Data are Biased Combined available data for 1,880 species are biased towards large, commercial, northern-hemisphere, temperate species Solution: Use modelling approach to expand data base

18. Expanding the Database: Trophic Level Trophic level of 97 species of Genus Epinephelus as a function of their body length. Top Medium Low

19. Residuals of Modelled Troph Residual Troph

20. Expanding the Database: Productivity (K) Von Bertalanffy growth parameter K plotted over maximum length for Family Serranidae High Medium Low Very low

21. Modelled vs Observed K

22. Life-History Strategies The extended data set contains 20,480 species, nearing a census Bias towards large northern species has disappeared Of 80 possible combinations of traits only 50 are used Three strategies are used by 60% of the species

23. Occupation of Size-Troph Space

24. Occupation of Size-Productivity Space

25. Occupation of Troph-Productivity Space

26. Testing of Evolutionary Theories Predictions of nine evolutionary theories (r-K, succession, temperature, area, etc) were tested 88-100% of the predictions were correct In case of conflicting predictions temperature theory usually prevailed over r-K and succession theories

27. Success of Life-History Strategies High abundance and wide distribution were taken as indicators of success Strategies associated with high abundance or small to medium range had highest species numbers Productivity of threatened fishes was significantly lower than that of non- threatened fishes

28. Thanks to the FishBase Team

29. Thanks to our Donors

30. Thank You Comments? Questions? Suggestions?