Spawning of Lake Whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, and Round Whiteftsh, Prosopium cylindraceum, in Aishihik Lake and East Aishihik River, Yukon Territory

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Bryan ◽  
D. A. Kato

Spawning grounds used by lake (Coregonus clupeaformis) and round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum) were discovered in the course of an investigation on effects of hydroelectric development. The spawning period for lake whitefish extended from early November to at least mid-December 1973. Lake whitefish spawned over silt and Potomogeton in water which had little current and was 2.0–2.5 m deep. Spawning of round whitefish was probably completed in November. Round whitefish spawned during the day. Eggs were apparently broadcast over a variety of substrata ranging from silt and Potamogeton to gravel and boulder. Round whitefish eggs were deposited in both fast and slow current at depths ranging from 0.7 to 2.5 m. Although deposited in a range of habitats, round whitefish eggs seemed to be most abundant on gravel in fast current at depths less than 1 m.

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bodaly ◽  
J. W. Clayton ◽  
C. C. Lindsey ◽  
J. Vuorinen

We use electrophoretic data on dehydrogenase enzymes to examine the relatedness of sympatric populations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and provide evidence for the existence of a glacial refuge race of lake whitefish in eastern North America. This Acadian race is presently found in New England, the Gaspé peninsula of Québec, and New Brunswick. It probably survived glaciation in a refugium on the exposed coastal plain of northeastern North America. In areas of contact, most glacial races appear to introgress and do not coexist in sympatry. However, sympatric pairs of populations occur (or occurred) within the ranges of all races of lake whitefish. Allele frequencies for at least one enzyme system examined for most sympatric pairs were significantly different, indicating that these sympatric populations are wholly or substantially, isolated reproductively from each other. Both members of the population pairs examined in the Yukon Territory, Ontario, and Labrador were genetically characteristic of the glacial races of their region. This suggests that they are not the result of speciation due to geographic isolation in different glacial refugia. Thus, their origin appears to be postglacial, but may be older if present genetic similarities are due to recent gene flow between sympatric forms.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 760-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Foote ◽  
J. W. Clayton ◽  
C. C. Lindsey ◽  
R. A. Bodaly

Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) could have survived through (at least) the Illinoisan and Wisconsinan Pleistocene glacial maxima in an area in the vicinity of the present Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada according to the geological evidence. This possibility was addressed by an analysis of the genetic makeup of 43 lake whitefish populations in the Northwest Territories, the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and Alberta. Populations in the lower Liard, Tetcela, Fraser, and upper Peace River systems as well as the headwaters of the Athabasca River were distinguished from both the Bering glacial refuge race populations inhabiting the Yukon and upper Liard River basins in the Yukon Territory and the Mississippi–Missouri glacial refuge race populations inhabiting most of the Northwest Territories, Alberta, and areas further to the east by a specific combination of electrophoretic mobility alleles. This evidence supports the hypothesis of the survival and subsequent dispersal of lake whitefish from a Nahanni glacial refugium. Possible dispersal routes and the limited extent of introgression among races are discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 1497-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Lindsey

The characters that apparently render a stock of fish distinctive may in reality be a reflection of the presence or absence of other fish species with which the stock shares its environment. Over the northern hemisphere, the whitefish genera Coregonus, "Leucichthys," and Prosopium offer striking examples of morphological characters being displaced because of coinhabiting species. Whenever one of the groups is missing, another tends to shift its gill rakers so as to fill in the vacant part of the spectrum in gill-raker counts. Plankton-feeding lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) having many long gill rakers exist in several lakes sympatrically with bottom-feeding lake whitefish having fewer and shorter gill rakers, but only if the even more specialized plankton-feeding species of ciscoes are absent. Lake whitefish in Yukon Territory have on the average fewer rakers in those lakes that contain ciscoes than in those that do not. Artificial transplants demonstrate that gill-raker characteristics can change quickly in a new environment. Gill-raker count is less subject to phenotypically induced variation from environmental influences than are most morphological characters, but it is not immune. Partial hybridization, where bimodal populations are maintained by a balance between gene flow and selection, also poses special problems for the stock concept. When employing even relatively stable characters such as gill-raker counts, one should beware that the "stocks" may be chameleons which shift their appearance in response to the biological color of their surroundings.Key words: coregonids, whitefish, gill rakers, phenotypic variation, hybridization, selection, transplants, stocks


1975 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Gary R. Ash

Abstract Lake Wabamun, located approximately 64 km west of Edmonton, Alberta, has two thermal electric generating stations situated upon it which utilize lake water for cooling purposes. The fishery for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis [Mitchill]) in the lake is important due to its high commercial and sport value. Since lake whitefish eggs require low temperatures throughout the winter for successful incubation, and since the major spawning area in the lake is located across a small bay from one of the power plants, it was feared that the heated water discharge would reduce lake whitefish egg survival on the spawning grounds. Since the whitefish are subject to heavy fishing pressure in the lake, it was thought that such a reduction in egg survival might cause a gradual reduction in the whitefish population. During preliminary fishery investigation in the lake it was discovered that large numbers of lake whitefish were spawning on an organic ooze substrate in the heated area. To determine the survival of eggs spawned on the ooze substrate in one of the heated areas , and also on the major spawning grounds (a rock and sand shoal), fertilized lake whitefish eggs were incubated in situ in enclosed trays in these areas and at control sites located in the portion of the lake not influenced by the power plants. The effects of substrate type, water temperature, and siltation on egg survival and their relation to the heated water discharge areas are discussed.


1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1214-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bodaly

Two forms of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis species complex sensu McPhail and Lindsey [1970]) were found in each of five lakes in Yukon Territory. They are characterized by differences in gill raker counts. Low gill raker fish are benthic feeders and are found almost exclusively near the bottom while high raker fish are largely plankton feeders, being found throughout the lake water column. High raker fish have longer and more closely spaced gill rakers than low raker fish. They also have shorter life spans and mature earlier than low raker fish. Lakes supporting these sympatric populations of lake whitefish have no cisco populations. The low gill raker member of these sympatric populations seems to be equivalent to most other Yukon lake whitefish whereas the high raker member appears to be the unusual member of each sympatric pair. Key words: whitefish, lake, feeding, morphology, growth, divergence, Yukon Territory, sympatric populations


2017 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 294-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindy M. Whitehouse ◽  
Chance S. McDougall ◽  
Daniel I. Stefanovic ◽  
Douglas R. Boreham ◽  
Christopher M. Somers ◽  
...  

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey ◽  
C. W. Nicol

We found no significant differences in slope or intercept for the regression of loge fecundity on loge fork length among samples of whitefish from four lakes near Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. The equation describing the relationship between fecundity and fork length for these populations was:[Formula: see text]Five other populations for which length–fecundity relationships could be calculated had length exponents ranging from 3.20 to 4.38, suggesting a nonlinear relationship between weight and fecundity. Six of the nine populations as well as four others for which limited data were available all had similar relative fecundities. Fish from Buck Lake in Alberta and from Lake Erie had high relative fecundities while fish from Great Slave Lake had low relative fecundity.


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