Influence of Temperature and Wind on the Survival of Early Stages of Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens

Survival from the egg to larval stage was estimated for the 1969–75 year-classes of yellow perch, Perca flavescens, in Oneida Lake. Egg production was determined from mark-and-recapture estimates of adult stock and measurements of fecundity, and abundance of the resulting cohort was estimated from annual larval surveys. Early survival, which varied from 1.6 to 18.4% was correlated positively with temperature and negatively with wind. Two variables, mean daily air temperature during the 3 wk prior to the date the larvae attained a mean length of 8 mm and mean daily wind velocity for 4 wk prior to this date, accounted for 87% of the variability in survival of perch. Physical destruction and movement of eggs by high winds and greater mortality of prolarvae caused by low temperature could account for the differences in survival between years, but do not appear severe enough to account for the 80+% base mortality that occurred in all years. The low year-to-year variation in survival suggests that temperature and wind influenced year-class size through a complex of many relatively minor mortality factors, rather than through one catastrophic event.