A test for interaction between brown trout (Salmo trutta) and inanga (Galaxias maculatus) in an artificial stream

Abstract –  The interaction between brown trout ( Salmo trutta ; fork length (FL) range 255–390 mm) and inanga ( Galaxias maculatus ; FL range 55–115 mm) was tested during summer through autumn in an artificial stream consisting of a single run-riffle-pool sequence with a natural food supply. Each experimental trial lasted for 15 days, and consisted of two brown trout and 50 inanga collected fresh from a nearby stream, with each species given prior residence in four replicate tests, totalling eight trials in all. In addition, two control trials (each 10 days), with 50 inanga in each, were run. Brown trout almost exclusively occupied the pool, whereas inanga occupied all habitat types, although in different proportions, when tested with and without brown trout. The proportion of inanga in the pool was appreciably lower in the experimental trials with brown trout than in the control trials with no brown trout; prior residence had no significant effect on inanga habitat use. Mortality of inanga attributable to predation by brown trout ranged from 0 to 40% with a mean of 14.5 ± 4.7%. The results suggest that habitat use and survival of inanga populations in small streams can be adversely affected by brown trout.     

Ecological consequences of variation in standard metabolism and dominance among salmon parr

Abstract – Standard metabolic rate (SMR, closely related to basal and resting metabolism) varies by up to threefold among juvenile Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., of similar size at common temperature. Here, consequences of this variation are predicted by combining empirically derived relationships between SMR, specific dynamic action, energy budgets, water velocity, food level in the environment and food availability to fish. The range of velocities across which growth is predicted to occur is inversely related to a fish’s SMR. Growth is positively related to SMR at high but negatively related to it at low‐food levels. The relationship between food level and the range of velocities over which lower SMR fish can grow but higher SMR fish cannot is asymmetrically bi‐phasic and peaked. It is predicted that maternal manipulation of offspring SMR would generate fitness benefits through bet‐hedging against unpredictability in food level and increases in the overall range of velocities that the family of offspring can occupy and thrive in.     

饲料蛋白质和脂肪水平对亚东鲑亲鱼生长性能、消化酶活性和血清指标的影响

本试验旨在研究饲料蛋白质和脂肪水平对亚东鲑亲鱼生长性能、性腺指数、消化酶活性和血清指标的影响。试验采用5×2两因素随机设计,设5个蛋白质水平(36%、39%、42%、45%、48%)和2个脂肪水平(9%、18%),共配制10种实用试验饲料。每种试验饲料投喂3个重复,每个重复19尾鱼。初重为(462.53±45.40)g亚东鲑在室内水族箱中流水饲养,饲养周期为77 d。结果表明:同一脂肪水平下,随饲料蛋白质水平的升高,增重率有所升高,而饲料系数逐渐降低,至蛋白质水平为48%时又有所升高。饲料蛋白质和脂肪水平对雌性亲鱼性腺指数无显著影响(P0.05),雄性亲鱼性腺指数随蛋白质水平的升高而降低,但至蛋白质水平为48%时又有所回升。同一脂肪水平下,随着饲料蛋白质水平的升高,胃、肠道和幽门盲囊的脂肪酶活性逐渐增加,蛋白质水平为48%时显著高于蛋白质水平为36%时(P0.05);而胃、肠道和幽门盲囊的蛋白酶活性虽有所增加,但各组间无显著差异(P0.05)。同一蛋白质水平下,18%脂肪水平组胃、肠道和幽门盲囊的蛋白酶和脂肪酶活性均略高于9%脂肪水平组。同一脂肪水平下,血清氨含量随饲料蛋白质水平的升高而逐渐增加。饲料蛋白质和脂肪水平对血清超氧化物歧化酶、溶菌酶活性以及葡萄糖、甘油三酯、总蛋白、白蛋白和丙二醛含量均未产生显著影响(P0.05)。由此得出,亚东鲑亲鱼对饲料蛋白质(36%~48%)和脂肪(9%~18%)水平有一定的适应性反应;以增重率为指标进行折线模型分析,得出饲料脂肪水平为9%和18%时,亚东鲑亲鱼对蛋白质需要量分别为43.11%和45.69%。     

Ecological impacts of small hydropower plants on headwater stream fish: from individual to community effects

Hydroelectricity is increasingly used worldwide as a source of renewable energy, and many mountain ranges have dozens or hundreds of hydropower plants, with many more being under construction or planned. Although the ecological impacts of large dams are relatively well known, the effects of small hydropower plants and their weirs have been much less investigated. We studied the effects of water diversion of small hydropower plants on fish assemblages in the upper Ter river basin (Catalonia, NE Spain), which has headwater reaches with good water quality and no large dams but many of such plants. We studied fish populations and habitat features on control and impacted reaches for water diversion of 16 hydropower plants. In the impacted reaches, there was a significantly lower presence of refuges for fish, poorer habitat quality, more pools and less riffles and macrophytes, and shallower water levels. We also observed higher fish abundance, larger mean fish size and better fish condition in the control than in impacted reaches, although the results were species‐specific. Accordingly, species composition was also affected, with lower relative abundance of brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Pyrenean minnow (Phoxinus bigerri) in the impacted reaches and higher presence of stone loach (Barbatula quignardi) and Mediterranean barbel (Barbus meridionalis). Our study highlights the effects of water diversion of small hydropower plants from the individual to the population and community levels but probably underestimates them, urging for further assessment and mitigation of these ecological impacts.     

Genetic characterization of Portuguese brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) and comparison with other European populations

Abstract– Allozyme and other protein loci were examined to study the genetic structure of Portuguese brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) populations. A total of 247 individuals from three tributaries of the Lima hydrological basin and a hatchery, all located in northern Portugal, were analyzed. Four of 22 protein coding loci were found to be polymorphic: CK-A1^*, GPI-A2^*, MPI-2^* and TF^*. A new allelc at the latter locus was found in Atlantic populations. The data obtained for Portuguese brown trout were compared with published data for 14 European populations and three hatchery stocks. Six polymorphic loci (CK-A1^*, GPI-A2^*, GPI-B2^*, LDH-C^*, ME^* and MPI-2^*) were used in a cluster analysis. This showed the similarity of Portuguese natural populations and northern Iberian populations and that Portuguese hatchery fish have an autochthonous origin, distinct from that of other Atlantic hatchery stocks.     

Reproductive strategies in small populations: using Atlantic salmon as a case study

Abstract –  Wild salmonid populations with only a few breeding adults may not exhibit a significant reduction in genetic variability compared with larger populations. Such an observation suggests that effective population sizes are larger than population size estimates based on direct adult counts and/or the mating strategy maximises outbreeding, contributing to increased heterozygosity. In the case of wild Atlantic salmon Salmo salar populations, stratification by age classes and sexes on the spawning grounds avoids inbreeding and increases genetic variability. We studied the breeding composition of four Spanish salmon populations. Over a 7-year period we concluded that the probability of within-cohort mating is very low: females generally reproduce after two sea-winters whereas males reproduce mostly as one sea-winter ( grilse ) and/or mature parr. Considering different levels of contribution of mature parr to spawning derived from field surveys, we developed a simple model for estimating effective population sizes and found that they doubled with 65% parr contribution expected for rivers at this latitude (43°N), and ranged from 100–800 individuals. The effect of between-cohort mating was modelled considering different ranges of differences in allele frequencies between cohorts and resulted in 28–50% increases in heterozygosity when considering a 65% parr contribution. The complex mating strategy of Atlantic salmon contributes to explain the high levels of genetic variability found for small populations of this species. This model can probably be extended to other animal species with mating strategies involving different cohorts.     

Escaped farmed salmon, Salmo salar L., in the Glenarm River, Northern Ireland: genetic status of the wild population 7 years on

A previous study described genetic changes in a wild Atlantic salmon , Salmo salar L., population resulting from the spawning of escaped farmed salmon in the Glenarm River, Northern Ireland, in 1990. This study reports an extension of the original investigation with a further follow-up sample that was taken from the river in 1997 to assess the genetic status of the wild population two generations after the original hybridization between the wild population and the farmed strain. Overall genetic variation across eight polymorphic allozyme loci indicated that the wild population remains significantly different from the pre-escape population and from the immediate post-escape population, the presence of an allele not having been previously detected in this population ( GPI-1,2*140 ), suggesting that further incursion(s) of farmed salmon may have taken place.     

Safety and efficacy of emamectin benzoate administered in-feed to Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., smolts in freshwater, as a preventative treatment against infestations of sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer)

The safety and efficacy of emamectin benzoate, administered in-feed to Atlantic salmon smolts, Salmo salar L., held in freshwater, was evaluated as a preventative treatment against sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, following transfer of fish to seawater.

In the safety study, salmon smolts held in freshwater were fed with diets containing emamectin benzoate at nominal doses of 0 (control), 50 (recommended dose) and 250 (5× recommended dose) μg kg⁻¹ fish day⁻¹ for 7 days (days 0–6). Actual dose rates, based on measured concentrations of emamectin benzoate in feed, differences in fish weight, and feed consumed, were 0, 54, and 272 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹, respectively. On day 9, fish were transferred to seawater and observed for 14 days. No differences in feeding response, coordination, behaviour, gross and histological appearance were observed between control fish and those that received 54 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹. Among smolts that received 272 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹, approximately 50% exhibited darker coloration, and one fish (1%) exhibited uncoordinated swimming behaviour. No pathognomonic signs of emamectin benzoate toxicity were identified.

In the efficacy study, smolts held in freshwater were fed an unmedicated ration (control group) or emamectin benzoate at 50 μg kg⁻¹ day⁻¹ (treated group) for 7 days (days 0–6). On day 9, fish were re-distributed to eight seawater tanks, each holding 30 control and 30 treated fish. On days 28, 56, 77 and 109, respectively, control and treated fish in two tanks were challenged with L. salmonis copepodites. When lice in each group reached chalimus stage IV, fish were sampled and the numbers of lice were recorded. Fish challenged at day 109 were sampled for the second time when lice were at the adult stage. Efficacy was calculated as the reduction in the mean number of lice on treated fish relative to the mean on control fish. Treatment with emamectin benzoate resulted in an efficacy of 85.0–99.8% in fish challenged at days 28–77, from the start of treatment, and lice counts were significantly lower (P<0.001) on treated fish than on controls. When fish challenged at day 109 were sampled at day 128, efficacy was 44.3%, but survival of chalimus to adult lice on treated fish was lower, and at day 159, efficacy had increased to 73%. These results demonstrate that treatment of salmon smolts with emamectin benzoate in freshwater was well tolerated and highly effective in preventing sea lice infestation following transfer of fish to seawater.