The effect of size of food ration on egg production in the female three‐spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L.

The effect of food level on the egg production of three‐spined sticklebacks was studied experimentally. High food levels increased the percentage of fish that matured, and the weight of the fish at maturity. Weight at maturity was positively correlated with the number of spawnings, the mean number and the weight of eggs produced per spawning. Food level had no effect on the size of the eggs, whether size was expressed as wet or dry weight per egg. Fish on the highest food level spawned at shorter intervals than fish at the lower levels. A preliminary model of the effect of food supply on recruitment to a stickleback population is nresented.