Stefan Meyer (Dipl.Biol.)

Phone: +49(0)40-42838 6643
Fax: +49(0)40-42838 6618
University of Hamburg
Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science
Olbersweg 24
22767 Hamburg
Germany

Research interests

My research interests encompass various aspects pertaining to Eastern Baltic (Gadus morhua L.) cod larvae, e.g. temperature- and food-dependent growth and development, individual-based modeling, larval rearing techniques, and other aquacultural methods. I want to understand the mechanisms influencing the individual fate of a cod larva in the Baltic sea. I am especially interested in condition measures in individuals and what they can tell me about the experienced life history in respect to critical situations in early life (e.g. first-feeding success and starvation). By combining short-term and integrative measures of larval growth and condition, I hope to resolve some grey areas on the life history map of Eastern Baltic cod early life stages in a variable environment.

Activities

My Dissertation (PhD-thesis) is an experimental work on growth and condition of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua L.) larvae. My aim for this study is to calibrate individual based condition measures (e.g. RNA-DNA ratio) and growth characteristics to experienced environmental conditions and life history. I will thereby expand current knowledge on temperature reaction norms and response plasticity for the early life stages of this species. I performed my experiments on the early life stages of Eastern Baltic cod in collaboration with DTU Aqua at a field research station (Bornholm’s Lakseklækkeri, Nexø) on the island of Bornholm, Denmark. During the work at this commercial finfish hatchery I acquainted myself with hatchery practices and rearing protocols for cod. In collaboration with my colleagues form the RESTOCK project (“The production of Baltic cod larvae for restocking in the eastern Baltic”), I assessed the effect of Alizarin Complexone marking techniques for cod yolk-sac larvae and developed an innovative green water technique for first-feeding cod larvae. I am currently the President Elect (i.e. next President 2010-11) and German coordinator of the European Aquaculture Society Student Group (EAS-SG www.eassg.org). This student organization provides networking services and information to students and young people from the European aquaculture domain and is actively involved in planning and organization of the Aquaculture Europe Conferences (www.easonline.org).

Educational Background

University education

WS 2000/01 – WS 2002/03: Undergraduate studies in biology at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms university Bonn.

SS 2003 – WS 2006/07: Graduate studies in biology at the Carl von Ossietzky university Oldenburg. Main courses: Marine biodiversity, Aquatic ecology, algal physiology

May 2006 – March 2007: Diploma thesis ”Zucht von Tisbe holothuriae Humes, 1957 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) als Lebendfutter für Solea solea (Linnaeus, 1758) (Pleuronectiformes: Soleidae)” at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Marine Station, Wilhelmshaven.

Employment

May 2007 – January 2010: Project Scientist in UNCOVER

May 2007 and ongoing: Project Scientist at the Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science

May 2007 and ongoing: Guest researcher to DTU Aqua, Denmark

Projects

May 2007 – January 2010: „UNderstanding the mechanisms of stock reCOVERy“ (UNCOVER)

2005 – 2007: EU funded EFRE/ESF project “Development of sustainable processes for aquaculture”, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Marine Station, Wilhelmshaven

Publications

Research articles (peer-reviewed)

Overton J.L., Meyer S., Støttrup J.G. & Peck M.A. (accepted) The role of heterotrophic protists in first feeding by cod (Gadus morhua L.) larvae. Marine Ecology Progress Series.

Meyer S., Sørensen S.R., Peck M.A. & Støttrup J.G. (submitted) Persistent adverse effects of Alizarin Complexone on Baltic cod eggs and larvae. Fisheries Research.

Other literature

Kahle, J.; Meyer, St.; Liebezeit, G., (2004). Development of a suistainable aquaculture for marine organisms in enclosed systems; Communications of the german society of marine sciences; DGM-Mitteilungen 3-4/2004; Hamburg, Germany

Selected Oral & Poster Presentations

Stefan Meyer, Anke Heiermann & Jens Kahle (2006) Breeding of Gammarus locusta and Tisbe holothuriae as live food for common sole (Solea solea). Poster presentation at AQUA2006, Florence, Italy, 9-13 May 2006

Stefan Meyer, Josianne G. Støttrup & Myron A. Peck (2008) Growth and condition of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) larvae reared at different temperatures and prey levels. Poster-presentation at Larval Fish Conference 2008, Kiel, Germany, 4-7 August 2008.

Stefan Meyer, Myron A. Peck, Niko Janke, Josianne G. Støttrup (2008) Growth and condition of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) larvae reared under different temperatures, salinities, photoperiods and food levels. Oral presentation at Aquaculture Europe 2008, Krakow, Poland, 15-18 September 2008.

Stefan Meyer, Sune R. Sørensen, Myron A. Peck & Josianne G. Støttrup (2009) Viability of Baltic Cod (Gadus morhua) Eggs and Larvae after Marking with Alizarin Complexone. Oral presentation at Aquaculture Europe 2009, Trondheim, Norway, 14-17 August 2009.

Stefan Meyer, Helena M. Hauss, Philip Kanstinger, Myron A. Peck & Josianne G. Støttrup (2009) Live and let die – condition indices and starvation-induced mortality thresholds during the early life of marine fish. Oral presentation at ICES Annual Science Conference 2009, Berlin, Germany, 21-25 September 2009.

Stefan Meyer, Helena M. Hauss, Stephanie Borchardt, Philip Kanstinger, Josianne G. Støttrup & Myron A. Peck (2010) “Leben und sterben lassen!” Kondition und Wachstum von Fischlarven an der Schwelle zum Tode. Invited oral presentation at vTI Institute of Baltic Sea Fishery, Rostock, Germany, 19 January 2010.

Stefan Meyer, Stephanie Borchardt, Elaine Caldarone, Catriona Clemmesen, Daniela Harrer, Helena Hauss, Arne Malzahn, Christoph Petereit, Josianne G. Støttrup & Myron A. Peck (2010) On the Edge of Death: Impacts of Temperature, Species and Body Size on RNA-DNA Ratios of Starving Marine Fish Larvae. Oral presentation at the ICES Workshop on understanding and quantifying mortality in pelagic, early life stages of marine organisms: experiments, observations and models (WKMOR), Aberdeen, Scotland, 22-24 March 2010.

Stefan Meyer, Catriona Clemmesen, Arne Malzahn, Josianne G. Støttrup, & Myron A. Peck (2010) Updated Information on Impacts of Temperature, Species and Body Size on RNA-DNA Ratios of Starving Marine Fish Larvae. Poster presentation at ICES Annual Science Conference 2010, Nantes, France, 20-24 September 2010.