Pre-fertilization gamete thermal environment influences reproductive success, unmasking opposing sex-specific responses in Atlantic salmon ().

The environment gametes perform in just before fertilization is increasingly recognized to affect offspring fitness, yet the contributions of male and female gametes and their adaptive significance remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigated gametic thermal plasticity and its effects on hatching success and embryo performance in Atlantic salmon (). Eggs and sperm were incubated overnight at 2°C or 8°C, temperatures within the optimal thermal range of this species.

In sea trout, the physiological response to salmon louse is stronger in female than in males.

The aims of this study were to compare male and female sea trout () with respect to their hypo-osmoregulatory ability over a simulated migration to seawater and their clinical and physiological response to salmon louse () infection in seawater and over a simulated pre-mature return to freshwater. For this purpose, 2-year-old hatchery-reared male and female brown trout (F1 offspring of wild caught anadromous fish) were infected with salmon lice and measured for changes in plasma ions, glucose, lactate and osmolality and relative heart, liver and gonad sizes during a simulated seawater migration and thereafter a premature return to freshwater after 4 weeks in seawater (pre-adult louse). Un-infected trout served as control.

Evolutionary drivers of kype size in Atlantic salmon (): domestication, age and genetics.

The diversity of reproduction and associated mating patterns in Atlantic salmon () has long captivated evolutionary biologists. exhibit strategies involving migration, bold mating behaviours and radical morphological and physiological change. One such radical change is the elongation and curvature of the lower jaw in sexually mature males into a hook-like appendage called the kype.

Plasticity in growth of farmed and wild Atlantic salmon: is the increased growth rate of farmed salmon caused by evolutionary adaptations to the commercial diet?

Background: Domestication of Atlantic salmon for commercial aquaculture has resulted in farmed salmon displaying substantially higher growth rates than wild salmon under farming conditions. In contrast, growth differences between farmed and wild salmon are much smaller when compared in the wild. The mechanisms underlying this contrast between environments remain largely unknown.

Does density influence relative growth performance of farm, wild and F1 hybrid Atlantic salmon in semi-natural and hatchery common garden conditions?

The conditions encountered by Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., in aquaculture are markedly different from the natural environment. Typically, farmed salmon experience much higher densities than wild individuals, and may therefore have adapted to living in high densities.

Thermal plasticity in farmed, wild and hybrid Atlantic salmon during early development: has domestication caused divergence in low temperature tolerance?

Background: In the past three decades, millions of domesticated Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. have escaped from farms into the wild. Their offspring display reduced survival in the natural environment, which demonstrates that gene-flow is likely to have a negative effect on wild populations.