Dataset: Raw patterns
Deployment: White_2012

Methodology from: Brander et al., 2013

Fish Collecting and Processing

Fish were collected monthly from the urban and ranch beaches from March through October of 2009 and 2010, as previously described. All research was done in accordance with the University of California, Davis Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), under approved protocol #13353. Captured fish were kept in a cooler with aeration and transported back to the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab, Bodega Bay, CA, for processing. During the 2009 sampling season approximately 20 fish from each site were kept alive and held in aquaria at 5–10 ppt salinity for 4–5 months to serve as depurated controls for gene expression analyses. The remaining fish were anesthetized in accordance with IACUC protocol #13353, sacrificed, and livers were immediately removed and snap-frozen on liquid nitrogen for RNA extraction. Gonads were removed, weighed, and fixed for 24 hours in Davidson’s solution followed by storage in phosphate buffered 10% formalin. Fish length and sex were recorded prior to and following dissection, respectively. Fish mass was measured after gonad removal and used in addition to gonad mass to obtain a total mass for gonadosomatic index (GSI) calculation (GSI = gonad mass/total mass). Sagittal otoliths were extracted, mounted on slides, photographed, and growth increments were counted and measured based on previously described methods.

Length, Sex Ratio, GSI

Because fish length, sex ratio, and GSI were expected to vary over the sampling period, we tested for differences among sites in those variables while including year and Julian date as covariates in a linear model (length) or logistic regression (sex ratio and GSI). Because no females were seined from the urban beach after July in either 2009 or 2010, GSI analysis was ended at that time point.