Production of Wild, Domestic, and Interstrain Hybrids of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Natural Ponds

1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1525-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Flick ◽  
Dwight A. Webster

Hatchery-reared wild and domestic strains of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were released in natural lakes, and survival and growth estimated at semiannual intervals throughout the life span. Angling was restricted. Four experiments with two year-classes involved three different Adirondack Mountain (New York) wild strains and two domestic strains, a fifth experiment included two wild strains from James Bay, Quebec and a hybrid between one of these (Assinica Lake) and a New York domestic strain. Wild and hybrid strains consistently exhibited greater longevity (5–7 yr) compared with domestic (few recovered after 3 yr). Climax sizes were not much different, except the Domestic × Assinica hybrid that was substantially larger than either of the two parents. Gross production and yield to angling of any given strain cohort was correlated (r = 0.93) and life-span gross production was 50% greater for wild and hybrid groups per unit fish stocked. Biomass stocked per recruit was much larger for domestic strains, and taking this into account, the ratio of gross production to weight stocked was about 6 times greater. Increased costs of rearing nondomesticated strains, if any, must be taken into consideration in an economic evaluation, but use of wild and/or hybrid strains of trout offers significant benefits under management conditions of these experiments.

1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 1701-1707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwight A. Webster ◽  
William A. Flick

Eleven year-classes of wild, domestic, and wild × domestic hybrid strains of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were stocked in a 0.19-ha Adirondack pond. Comparative survival and growth were assessed upon drainage in early fall. Rearing native wild strains to maturity in a hatchery, or domestic strains in a natural environment, did not consistently or materially affect survival of progeny, suggesting that superior performance of wild strains was largely inherent. Interstrain hybrids of wild × domestic showed survivals equivalent to the wild parents, but hybrids of two Canadian strains gave evidence of heterosis in both survival and net yield. Supplementary observations in other waters also indicated that one strain (Assinica) may be less adaptable to Adirondack conditions than the other (Temiscamie).Key words: brook trout, wild trout, domesticated trout, interstrain hybrid trout, survival, growth, heterosis, hybrid vigor


1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 1672-1684 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Fraser

Matched plantings of domestic strain and interstrain hybrid (or wild strain) brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were made annually in nine small Precambrian Shield lakes during 1973–77. Recoveries of planted fish were made by gillnetting and/or angling during 1974–80. In six study lakes, hybrids (and wild strains) were recovered at rates two to four times greater than the domestic strain; in three lakes recoveries were similar. Most domestic strain trout were caught in the year following planting whereas recoveries of hybrids and wild strains were spread over 3–4 yr. Each kilogram of hybrid (or wild) planted yielded 5.6 kg (1.2–12.3); each kilogram of domestic strain planted yielded 0.8 kg (0.2–2.1). Lakes containing only minnows and sticklebacks yielded the highest returns of brook trout; lakes containing competitive species yielded low returns. Rapid growth of brook trout occurred in lakes containing only minnows and sticklebacks; slowest growth was noted in lakes supporting white suckers (Catostomus commersoni). Domestic strain brook trout and the matched hybrid grew at approximately the same rate within a lake and in seven of the nine lakes ate the same food. The performance of the Nipigon × domestic hybrid qualifies it for consideration as a replacement for the domestic brook trout presently planted in Ontario lakes.Key words: planting, brook trout, trout strain, hybrid, Precambrian Shield, survival, stock


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven P. Gloss ◽  
Carl L. Schofield ◽  
Robert L. Spateholts ◽  
Barbara A. Plonski

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were stocked into two previously acidic (pH 4.5–5.2) Adirondack Mountain lakes, Woods Lake and Cranberry Pond, following liming in June, 1985. Age 0+ Temiscamie × Domestic hybrid brook trout were stocked at 200∙ha−1 with one-half of the fish selected for presumed acid tolerance. Age 1+ Temiscamie strain brook trout were also stocked at 50∙ha−1. Liming increased pH to well above 7 and alkalinity to over 200 μeq∙L−1. Growth and condition of stocked fish were good while water quality conditions remained suitable. However, in Cranberry Pond, which reacidified 6 mo after liming, both growth and survival declined dramatically. Much of the population loss was due to emigration. Annual survival in Woods Lake averaged 35 and 25% for the age 0+ and 1+ fish, respectively. Initially large invertebrates made up most of the diet for stocked fish. These taxa were replaced by zooplankton within a few months. Limited natural reproduction was associated with low velocity groundwater inflows and high acidity in tributary streams. Fry emergence from artificial spawning substrates placed in Woods Lake peaked well after snowmelt inflows which produced toxic conditions in littoral areas.


1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1811-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger O. Hermanutz ◽  
Leonard H. Mueller ◽  
Kenneth D. Kempfert

The toxic effects of captan on survival, growth, and reproduction of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and on survival of bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were determined in a flow-through system. In a 45-week exposure of fathead minnows, survival and growth were adversely affected at 39.5 μg/liter. Adverse effects on spawning were suspected but not statistically demonstrated at 39.5 and 16.5 μg/liter. The maximum acceptable toxicant concentration (MATC), based on survival and growth, lies between 39.5 and 16.5 μg/liter. The lethal threshold concentration (LTC) derived from acute exposures was 64 μg/liter, resulting in an application factor (MATC/LTC) between 0.26 and 0.62. LTC values for the bluegill and brook trout were 72 and 29 μg/liter, respectively. The estimated MATC is between 44.6 and 18.7 μg/liter for the bluegill and between 18.0 and 7.5 μg/liter for the brook trout.The half-life of captan in Lake Superior water with a pH of 7.6 is about 7 hr at 12 C and about 1 hr at 25 C. Breakdown products from an initial 550 μg/liter of captan were not lethal to 3-month-old fathead minnows.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2285-2292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Lachance ◽  
Pierre Magnan

Two years after planting in six small oligotrophic lakes, domestic, hybrid and wild strains of brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, used space and food resources in the same way as native trout. Although trout living with or without white sucker, Catostomus commersoni, were similarly spatially distributed, they had different diets, suggesting a feeding niche shift of trout in the presence of sucker; we concluded that this shift is under phenotypic control because each planted strain came from similar genetic backgrounds. Sexual maturity was related to the size of individuals, regardless of the strain, and males matured before females. Almost all males and females were sexually mature in the first fall after stocking except wild females (3.0 and 75% matured during the first and second fall, respectively). Gonadosomatic indices (GSI) of domestic and hybrid females were similar during the first fall, but the GSI of domestic females was significantly higher than that of hybrid and wild strains in the second fail. Mean egg diameters were similar among the three strains during the two falls, but fecundity of domestic females, after correction for size differences, was significantly higher than that of hybrid females which, in turn, was significantly higher than that of wild ones.


1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1359-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Flick ◽  
Dwight A. Webster

No well-defined changes in growth and survival rates of native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were detected during a 13-yr period when non-trout species were removed from a small Adirondack Mountain stream using fixed traps located throughout the system. The catch of non-trout species was about 124,000 weighing 2000 kg, and of trout, 13,000, weighing 500 kg. Slow growth characterized the population through this time, with mean lengths of 13.2, 17.3, and 21.3 cm at ages I+, II+, and III+, respectively. The weighted annual survival rate for ages II–V was 18%, with most deaths due to natural causes. The most striking observation was virtual cessation of movement of both trout and non-trout species after 7 yr, suggesting that the removal program had an effect on population behavior, even if it was not reflected in an improvement in trout growth.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Evans

Seasonal population density estimates of limnetic insects in two Adirondack (New York) lakes were obtained from horizontal and vertical net tows and benthic sweep net samples over a 3-yr period; 1 yr while the lakes were acidic and fishless, and 2 yr following addition of (calcium carbonate) CaCO3 and the introduction of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Before treatment, the limnetic insect assemblages in the study lakes resembled those reported from acidic and/or fishless lakes in Sweden and Canada. Maximum densities of dominant taxa were: Notonectidae; 1.5∙m−3; Corixidae; 1.1∙m−3, Graphoderus (Dytiscidae) larvae; 0.27∙m−3; and Chaoborus americanus; 400∙m−3. Within 3 mo after treatment, all limnetic populations were near or below the detection limit (0.01∙m−3). Limnetic densities of notonectids, corixids, and C. americanus were significantly lower (Mann–Whitney U-tests), and benthic densities of Hemiptera and Coleoptera tended to be lower (sign tests) the summer after treatment than the previous summer. Calculated trout predation levels on Hemiptera and C. americanus, and evidence from the literature, strongly suggest that predation was the major cause of reduced limnetic insect populations. The rapid reduction or elimination of these populations indicates considerable instability of the predator–prey relationships of acidic lakes which have been recently limed and stocked with fish.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1633-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. R. Mount ◽  
J. R. Hockett ◽  
W. A. Gern

Adult brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were exposed for 193 d (previtellogenesis to spawning) to six combinations of acid, Al, and low Ca. Survival and growth were reduced by low pH combined with low Ca concentrations. After 41 d of exposure, fish in ail low pH exposures showed depressed plasma osmolality and Na concentrations, but by day 97 this apparent osmoregulatory stress was compensated for in all but the most severe treatment (pH 4.97, 47 μg inorganic Al/L, 0.5 mg Ca/L). At the observed peak of yolking (day 147), fish exposed to this treatment also had mean concentrations of plasma estradiol, vitellogenin, and Ca of only half control values. Fecundity (eggs per female) was significantly reduced as well, but this reduction was due in part to decreased growth. Despite these abnormalities in ionoregulatory and reproductive physiology, fish in all treatment conditions produced mature eggs. Among fish in stressful conditions, individual variation in growth and physiological parameters appeared to be correlated with osmoregulatory status. We hypothesize that the suite of physiological disturbances observed are linked to osmoregulatory impairment.


1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Schaffner

The zooplankton communities in two acidified lakes in the Adirondack region of New York changed considerably following liming and the reintroduction of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Most rotifer taxa were greatly reduced in numbers within a week following base addition. Keratella taurocephala declined by orders of magnitude in both lakes. Rotifer species that replaced K. taurocephala were far less abundant. The crustacean communities were also affected by liming. Diaptomus minutus, the dominant in both lakes, declined following base addition. Longer-term population responses appeared to be related to the dynamics of the individual populations, and changes in predation pressure. Four additional crustacean species became prominent in the lakes after liming: the caldocerans Bosmina longirostris and Daphnia catawba in Cranberry Pond, and D. catawba and the cyclopoid copepod Cyclops scutifer in Woods Lake. Over the longer-term liming and the introduction of brook trout tended to have an overall positive effect on the zooplankton communities in the two lakes.


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