7921 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7921
• Author: Trembly, T. L. and G. A. Gould.
• Title: Opportunities To Protect Instream Flows In Colorado And Wyoming.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Biological Report 87‎(10)‎,
• Copyright Material: NO

Riverine Habitat Requirements
Principal variables that determine the suitability of riverine habitat
for striped bass are water temperature (V1), dissolved oxygen concentration
(VZ), and current velocity (V,).
Water temperature (U1~. Water temperature regulates the activities of
adults and the survival and development of eggs and larvae.
Spawning. Adults usually initiate spawning runs when temperatures reach
15 to 19° C {59 to 62° F) (Raney 1952). Both the initiation and duration of
spawning are temperature-dependent (Calhoun et al. 1950; Rathjen and Miller
1957), and sudden drops in water temperature may interrupt spawning (Calhoun
et al. 1950; Chadwick 1958; Mansueti amd Hollis 1963; Farley 1966; Combs
1979).
Kernehan et al. (1981) collected striped bass eggs in the vicinity of the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal where water temperatures ranged from 8.4 to
29.0° C (47.2 to 84.2° F), but they noted that most of the larvae produced in
the area resulted from intensive spawning in water with temperatures of 13.5
to 18.0° C (56.3 to 64.4° F). Other temperature extremes reported for spawning
were a low of 10° C (50° F) (Institute of Environmental Medicine 1973) and a
high of 26.5° C (79.7° F) (Combs 1979). More commonly, spawning occurs within
the range of about 12 to 23.9° C (54 to 75° F) (see Table 1).
Shannon and Smith (1968) did not observe spawning in the Roanoke River,
North Carolina, when water temperatures were below 12.8° C (55° F) or above
21.7° C (71° F). McCoy (1959) reported a minimum spawning temperature of
about 15° C (59° F) and a maximum of about 22° C (72° F). Combs (1979)
reported that spawning began in the Arkansas River, Oklahoma, when the water
temperature reached 15.5 to 18.5° C (59.9 to 65.13° F), slightly higher than
initial spawning temperatures observed by Rathjen and Miller (1957), McCoy
(1959), Hollis (1963, 1967), Kornegay and Humphries (1976), Marshall (1976),
and Neal (1976). Stooksbury (1977) noted that striped bass spawned in
J. Percy Priest Reservoir, Tennessee, at 15 to 17° C (59.0 to 62.6° F). The
optimum temperature range for spawning appears to be about 17 to 20° C (63 to
68° F), based on reports by McCoy (1959) and Shannon and Smith (1968).
However, the optimum spawning temperature-range for striped bass in the
Apalachicola River, Florida, appears to be slightly higher (Crateau et al.
1981). The minimum and maximum temperatures for spawning are about 12° C
(54° F) and 24° C (75° F), respectively (Table 1).
Eck. The effects of temperature on hatching and incubation time are
listed in Table 2. The lower and upper temperature limits for survival of
eggs and resultant larvae are about 12.D° C (53.6° F) and 22.0° C (72.0° F),
respectively. Eggs incubated at 21.0° C (70° F) hatched, and the fry survived
for 3 days (Shannon and Smith 1968). However, when the incubation temperature
nears 23.0° C (73° F) egg survival declines rapidly (Morgan and Rasin 1973),
and resultant fry will not likely survive (Shannon and Smith 1968).
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