Patterns of growth and nutrient deposition in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and their hybrid, F1 splake (Salvelinus namaycush × Salvelinus fontinalis) as a function of water temperature

Several fish species of the genus Salvelinus are used for stocking freshwaters in North and South America and much of Europe but there is little information about their growth and carcass composition. Lake trout (S. namaycush), brook trout (S. fontinalis) and their hybrid F₁ splake (S. namaycush × S. fontinalis) (initial body weight ca. 2–4 g) were raised at 6.4, 10.6 and 14.9 °C to examine growth and nutrient deposition as a function of water temperature. In all species, weight gain and feed intake increased significantly with water temperature and feed efficiency was significantly lower at 6.4 than at 10.6 and 14.9 °C. In brook trout, Thermal‐unit Growth Coefficient (TGC) growth rate was significantly lower at 6.4 than at 10.6 and 14.9 °C, while in F₁ splake TGC was only lower at 6.4 than 10.6 °C. Expressed in terms of relative composition a significant effect of temperature was observed. In all species, moisture content decreased while crude protein, lipid, ash and energy contents increased with increased temperature. Expressed in absolute terms, however, a significant effect of temperature was not observed. In all species carcass contents increased significantly with increased live body weight and were best described by simple linear equations. Gross energy concentration was significantly affected by both water temperature and body weight. These data indicate that the growth of these species is a function of water temperature and, in absolute terms, carcass composition is mainly a function of body weight and not water temperature. Also, such simple linear equations bode well for modification of existing feed requirement and waste outputs models; improving their applicability to these species.     

Size-related factors causing individual variation in seasonal reproductive success of fluvial male Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma)

Abstract– Reproductive activities of individually identified fluvial Dolly Varden ( Salvelinus malma ) were observed during a breeding season in a small stream. Males and females both established dominance hierarchies based on body size. Females spawned from late October to late November, with no apparent peak, and larger females spawned earlier than small ones. Males competed for access to females by adopting two types of mating tactics: pairing and sneaking. The tactic used depended on the male's position in the dominance hierarchy of the breeding group. Seasonal reproductive activity and mating success of males were positively correlated with body size, with only the largest male monopolizing most of the mating opportunities, and the small males were rarely successful in mating. Smaller males, however, lost as much weight as large males during the breeding season. Females preferred the largest male in the breeding group as a mate, while males courted females of any size. It is suggested that the polygynous mating pattern is a consequence of size-related differences in competitive ability among males, and the degree of monopolization is affected by both the temporal distribution and the spawning tactics of the females.     

Variation in prey selection and foraging success associated with early‐life ontogeny and habitat use of American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)

Many fishes are planktivorous during early life and switch to piscivory or consume larger food items as ontogeny progresses. In contrast, paddlefish start as particulate feeders and later become filter feeders. Few studies have identified food items essential for paddlefish growth, survival and recruitment surrounding this ontogenetic diet shift. The objectives of this study were to investigate (i) prey types consumed by paddlefish, (ii) variability in prey selection surrounding an ontogenetic diet shift and (iii) whether habitat affected paddlefish prey selection or foraging success. We analysed gut contents of 189 wild age‐0 paddlefish from the middle Mississippi River (MMR) and also conducted a laboratory experiment to address these objectives. We found that paddlefish primarily foraged on benthic macroinvertebrates in the MMR, which differed from previous studies in lentic systems, suggesting young paddlefish prey selection may be labile depending on habitat (i.e., lotic versus lentic). Dominant prey of wild‐caught and experimental age‐0 paddlefish were caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera), followed by hemipterans and amphipods. We found little evidence that habitat attributes affected foraging success, but the most common prey items consumed were associated with wing dike habitat and the upstream and downstream tips of alluvial islands. Our experimental study revealed that if provided a mixture of organisms, age‐0 paddlefish will primarily consume macroinvertebrates while age‐1 paddlefish will mainly filter zooplankton. Overall results suggest young paddlefish prey selection can be highly variable, but also heavily reliant on a narrow group of prey resources.     

Phenotypic plasticity in the morphology of small benthic Icelandic Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)

Intraspecific phenotypic diversity is the raw material for evolution, so understanding its origin and maintenance is critically important for conservation of biodiversity. Intraspecific diversity in a trait or a suite of traits can result from genetic diversity and/or phenotypic plasticity. The two are, however, not independent as plasticity has been shown to evolve. In this study, we evaluated the importance of phenotypic plasticity in generating morphological diversity in populations of small benthic Arctic charr in Iceland, using a rearing experiment with contrasting modes of feeding. We also examined the association between phenotypic plasticity in offspring groups generated by the contrasting feeding modes and important ecological variables characterising the natural habitats of the respective populations. Although the level of plasticity could not be related to any of the ecological measurements, clear differences in morphological reaction norms among populations suggest that plasticity is an important aspect of morphological diversity of the charr. It is not clear whether that plasticity is adaptive, but it is notable that reaction norms in all populations have similar reaction to the treatments.     

Movement of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in four small subalpine streams in northern Colorado

We studied the movement of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in four small streams in northern Colorado using mark-recapture methods and weirs. The recapture rates of marked adult trout were low for all streams, and large numbers of unmarked adult trout, apparently immigrants, were found each year. Significantly more trout, immigrated into sections that were experimentally modified by installing low log dams, which increased depth, pool volume and the amount of overhead cover. The number of immigrant and resident trout was significantly related to the amount of cover in the sections. Resident trout were larger than immigrants in all streams in the last year of sampling. Most mobile brook trout moved upstream during summer on the two streams where weirs were operated, and upstream migrants were significantly larger than downstream migrants on both streams. We suggest that a high degree of movement may be an adaptive response by brook trout to the heterogeneous nature of small mountain streams.     

Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) otoliths indicate effects of climate and lake morphology on growth patterns in Arctic lakes

Climate change is occurring rapidly in the Arctic, and an improved understanding of the response of aquatic biota and ecosystems will be important for this data-limited region. Here, we applied biochronology techniques and mixed-effects modelling to assess relationships among growth increments found on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) otoliths (N = 49) captured from 13 lakes on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, observed and modelled climate patterns, and individual-level fish and lake characteristics. We found that annual growth varied by year, fish growth slowed significantly as individuals aged, and females grew faster than males. Lake trout had higher growth in flow-through lakes relative to lakes that were perennially or seasonally connected. Annual growth was positively correlated with observed air temperature measurements from a local weather station for the period 1998–2014, but no clear warming trend was evident for this period. Modelled August air temperatures from 1978–2014 predicted lake trout annual growth (root mean squared error = 0.045 mm) and indicated increasing temperatures and annual lake trout growth over the period 1950–2014. This study demonstrated that biochronology techniques can reconstruct recent climate patterns and provide a better understanding of trends in Arctic lake ecosystems under a changing climate.     

Evidence for genetic distinction among sympatric ecotypes of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in south‐western Alaskan lakes

Resource polymorphism may play an important role in the process of speciation. The Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) exhibits great phenotypic and genetic diversity across its range, making it an ideal species for studies of resource polymorphism and divergence. Here, we investigated genetic variation at 11 microsatellite loci among 287 Arctic char from five isolated yet proximate postglacial lakes in south‐western Alaska that were previously examined for resource polymorphism. Significant differences in pairwise F_ST were detected among all lakes (range from 0.05 to 0.28, all P < 0.02). In one lake (Lower Tazimina Lake), we found evidence for two genetic groups of char and for significant differences in the distribution of microsatellite variability among at least two of the three previously described body size morphotypes (‘large’‐, ‘medium’‐, and ‘small’‐bodied char; maximum F_ST = 0.09; differences in admixture proportions). We also found a significant association between genetic admixture proportions and gill raker counts among body size morphs (r = ?0.73, P < 0.001). Our data represent the first record of genetically distinct sympatric morphs of Arctic char in Alaska and provide further evidence that differences in morphology associated with feeding (gill rakers) and growth trajectories reflect niche diversification and promote genetic divergence in Holarctic populations of Arctic char.     

Substituting fishmeal with extruded soybean meal in diets did not affect the growth performance,hepatic enzyme activities,but hypoxia tolerance of Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) juveniles

Extruded soybean meal (ESBM) showed increased digestibility of crude protein, amino acids and fat, better oil retention capacities, attenuated anti‐nutrient factor effects and improved its nutritive value compared with raw soybean meal, indicating a promising application prospects for ESBM in fish culture. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of substituting fishmeal with ESBM on growth performance, hepatic antioxidant capacity and the resistance to hypoxia stress on juvenile Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma). Five hundred and forty fish were randomly assigned to six groups fed with iso‐nitrogenous and iso‐energetic diets with ESBM for replacement of 0% (control), 10% (G1), 20% (G2), 30% (G3), 40% (G4) and 50% (G5) fishmeal. After an 81‐day feeding trial, groups fed ESBM substituted diets (G2 to G5) showed no significant differences in survival rates, final body weights, weight gain rates, feed conversion ratios, specific growth rates, hepatosomatic indexes and condition factors with the control group (G0), reflecting normal food intake and growth performance. The hepatic enzyme activities of total antioxidant capacity, catalase and superoxide dismutase were not affected by ESBM substituted diets, showing no harmful effects on ROS eliminating abilities. Hepatic HSP70 expression levels had increased 1.3 times for G5 group, reflecting a less tolerance to hypoxia for fish fed diets with high substituting level of ESBM. In conclusion, replacing, despite 50%, fishmeal with ESBM in diets had no detrimental effects on growth performance and hepatic enzyme activities, but lowering the hypoxia tolerance of juvenile Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma).     

Summer habitat use of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in a small Arctic lake, monitored by acoustic telemetry

Abstract –  Acoustic technologies were applied to describe how landlocked Arctic char from Iqalugaajuruluit Lake, Baffin Island, interact with its lacustrine habitat. Acoustic data from the lake bottom was collected using sonar equipment and substrate types were verified with benthic grabs and mapped in a geographic information system. Arctic char movements during the open water period were recorded from char fitted with acoustic tags. The distribution of the tagged Arctic char in Iqalugaajuruluit Lake was dependent on fish size and related to abiotic factors such as depth, substrate type and depth/temperature, temporally. The volume of water with temperatures below 6 °C during the open water period may be a limiting factor for large char (>400 mm) in small Arctic lakes. The large piscivorous char are found most often in the deepest water over soft substrates and the smaller char which feed on varying proportions of invertebrates and fish were found most often over the more complex substrates such as boulders, pebbles and gravel.     

Genetic diversity of freshwater pearl mussel (Hyriopsis cumingii) in populations from the five largest lakes in China revealed by inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR)

Triangle sail mussel (Hyriopsis cumingii) is the most important mussel species commercially exploited for freshwater pearl culture in China. Its genetic diversity was studied among populations from the five largest freshwater lakes of China, Poyang Lake (PY), Dongting Lake (DT), Taihu Lake (TH), Hongze Lake (HZ), and Chaohu Lake (CH), by the polymorphism of the inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSRs). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detections showed that a total of 62 loci were amplified from eight primers; of those, 31.88%, 31.15%, 31.03%, 27.27% and 26.92%, respectively, were polymorphic in each of the five populations across all genotypes tested. The average heterozygosities were 0.4747, 0.3274, 0.2366, 0.2099 and 0.2018 in each of these populations from PY, TH, DT, CH and HZ, respectively. Phylogenic analyses showed that PY and TH populations clustered with CH and HZ and formed a group, while the DT population on its own formed a separated branch. The smallest distance (0.0404) was scored between PY and TH populations, indicative of their closest relationship; the biggest distance (0.2438) was found between PY and DT populations, suggesting their greatest divergence. The present study provided genetic basis for managing mussel stocks from these lakes separately to best preserve the genetic diversity of H. cumingii. On the other hand, since the population in PY displayed the highest genetic diversity, it may be used preferably in future selective breeding to improve pearl yield and quality.     

Spatial and quantitative patterns of movement in large bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) from a watershed in north-western British Columbia, Canada, are due to habitat selection and not differences in life history

Abstract –  Movement and habitat use by bull trout ( Salvelinus confluentus ) was examined using radio telemetry in the Morice River watershed, north-western British Columbia, between April 2000 and November 2001. Bull trout principally utilised mainstem habitat. Throughout the watershed, little movement was observed during the winter months. From June to September, movement increased and was correlated with migration into tributaries. We directly observed spawning bull trout only in tributaries of the Morice River and never in the mainstem. Many of the fish ( N  = 48) migrated to the nearest potential spawning sites, but a few fish ( N  = 7) made extensive migrations to other regions of the watershed to spawn. Fish that spawned in both years of the study returned to the same spawning location. Variation in spatial and movement data, therefore, appears to be linked to availability of suitable habitat and not differences in life history that have been observed in large bull trout.