Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis in southern Appalachian Mountains streams of the USA occur at the southernmost portion of their native range, and occupy small, isolated, and low-productivity headwater streams. The existing standard weight (Ws) equation is applicable only to Brook Trout > 120 mm total length (TL), but many individuals in the region are smaller than this minimum size threshold due to their habitat characteristics. Here, we developed a new Ws equation for Brook Trout in southern Appalachian Mountains streams using length-weight data on 72,502 individuals. The weighted quadratic empirical-percentile method minimized length-related bias in relative weight compared to the regression-line-percentile and weighted linear empirical-percentile methods. The proposed Ws equation was: log10W = -3.364 + 1.378 x log10L + 0.397 x (log10L)2, where W was weight (g) and L was TL (mm). The new equation characterized body condition of Brook Trout in southern Appalachian Mountains streams more accurately than the existing equation.
Population genetics of Brook Trout (
Salvelinus fontinalis
) in the southern Appalachian Mountains
