Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Expected Rate of Senescence and Agedependent Mortality in Fish

Abstract

IT is usual in fisheries investigations to assume that the mortality of wild fish from natural causes does not rise significantly with age, and calculations on this basis give reliable results for most economically important species1–3. Age is sometimes invoked to explain the disappearance of fish4: at high ages a number of species show a decline in numbers which might be due to natural ageing5,6; but for long-lived species the inference is that few individuals, especially in fished populations, live long enough for the effect of age to be important.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beverton, R. J. H., and Holt, S. J., Min. Agric. and Fish., Fishery Invest., Ser. II, 9 (London, 1957).

  2. Alm, G., Rep. Inst. Freshw. Res. Drottningholm, 40, 5 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Parker, R. R., and Larkin, P. A., J. Fish. Res. Bd., 16, 721 (1959).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ricker, W. E., Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc., 77, 114 (1949).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gerking, S. B., Gerontologia, 1, 287 (1957).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gerking, S. B., Animal Life Spans: Ciba Symp. on Ageing, No. 5 (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Comfort, A., and Doljanski, F., Gerontologia, 2, 266 (1958).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Comfort, A., Gerontologia, 4, 177 (1960).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Comfort, A., Gerontologia (in the press).

  10. Jones, J. W., and Hynes, H. B. N., J. Anim. Ecol., 19, 59 (1950).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hickling, C. F., Fish. Invest., Ser. II, xiii, No. 2 (1933).

  12. Pycha, R. L., Calif. Fish Game, 42, 23 (1956).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Milne, L., and Milne, M., Nat. Hist. N.Y., 67, 190 (1958).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

COMFORT, A. Expected Rate of Senescence and Agedependent Mortality in Fish. Nature 191, 822–823 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/191822b0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/191822b0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing