Topic: Marine biology

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Can we use fish scales to identify spring and autumn spawning herring (Clupea harengus)?

Our aim for this report was to investigate if we can use herring scales to distinguish between autumn and spring spawning herring. Our hypothesis was that herring that is genetically fit for autumn spawning (genetic autumn spawners) have a relatively wider first scale increment size than genetic spring spawners, due to longer first growth season. We further hypothesize that this difference could be used to differentiate between the two spawning groups.