Role of Instream Rootwads as Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Steelhead Trout (O. mykiss) Cover Habitat Under Varying Streamflows

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 852-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Shirvell

Coho salmon fry (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and steelhead parr (O. mykiss) occupied previously infrequently-used mid-channel areas of Kloiya Creek, British Columbia, Canada, once artificial rootwads were placed there. Ninetynine percent of all coho salmon fry and 83% of steelhead parr occupied positions downstream of natural or artificial rootwads during artificially created drought, normal, and flood streamflows. Fish associated with rootwads regardless of distance from shore, but steelhead parr preferred rootwads away from shore while coho salmon fry preferred rootwads next to shore. Coho salmon fry increased their use of natural rootwads where currents were slow during floods, while steelhead parr increased their use of artificial and natural rootwads where light remained low during droughts. Young fish apparently selected areas having slower water 80% of the time because they provided shelter from adverse current, and areas having reduced light intensities 20% of the time because they provided protection from predators, juvenile coho salmon and steelhead in Kloiya Creek selected locations with slower water velocities and reduced light intensities irrespective of the physical structure that caused them.


1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1097-1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Scrivener ◽  
B. C. Andersen

Natural patterns in emergence times, seaward movements, instream distributions, densities, and growth of coho salmon fry (Oncorhynchus kisutch) between March and September are contrasted with patterns observed during and after logging in the Carnation Creek watershed. After streamside logging in 1976–77, fry emerged up to 6 wk earlier and moved seaward more quickly than during years before logging. These observations are attributed to higher water temperatures during the winter and to emergence during a period of more frequent freshets. Increased fry movement from the stream could result in habitat being underutilized. In sections affected by intense streamside logging, the deposition of "fine" logging debris led to increased fry densities during the summers of 1977 and 1978. After major freshets in November 1978, which removed this fine debris and affected channel morphology in these sections, fry densities declined below those observed prior to logging. Growth rate of fry was inversely correlated with density in all stream sections. Growth rates, after correction for density, tended to be greater in all sections after the adjacent streamside was logged. Larger fry and more variable numbers of fry remained in the stream in September after logging than before logging. Their increased size is attributed to the longer growing season afforded by earlier emergence. This complex of interacting factors determines the number and size of fry in autumn and it can influence the production of smolts the following spring.



1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Swales ◽  
C. D. Levings

Off-channel ponds in the upper reaches of the Coldwater River, British Columbia, were major rearing areas for juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri), and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) were generally scarce in the ponds, although they were numerous in the main river. Coho salmon were predominant at "natural" river sites while steelhead trout was the main species at sites with "rip-rap" bank stabilization. Catches of juvenile coho were much lower in the main river than in the ponds where they were the main species, and were more variable in the river. Population density and biomass estimates of juvenile coho in the ponds ranged from 0.100 fish∙m−2 and 1.00 g∙m−2 to 1.00 fish∙m−2 and 5.15 g∙m−2, compared with density estimates of 0.08–0.23 fish∙m−2 in the river. The coho population in the ponds consisted of 0+ and 1+ age-groups in similar proportions, while in the main river the 0+ age-group was much more abundant. The growth rate of coho in the ponds was faster than in the main river, with pond fish reaching mean lengths of 62–79 mm at the end of the first growing season, compared with 53 mm in the main river. Smolt outmigration from the main study pond occurred in late spring with peak outmigration in May and June coinciding with peak river discharge and increasing water temperatures in the main river and pond.



1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1396-1405 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Blair Holtby ◽  
Thomas E. McMahon ◽  
J. Charles Scrivener

Variability in average stream temperatures between peak spawning and fry emergence accounted for 82 and 77% of the variance in the median emigration date of fry of chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and coho salmon (O. kisutch) respectively over a 9 to 10-yr period. The modeled relationships were indistinguishable from laboratory models that predicted time to maximum alevin wet weight. Variability in stream temperatures during the spring accounted for 60% of the variability in the median date of coho smolt emigration. As stream temperatures increased, the predicted thermal summations required for emigration were nearly constant for coho salmon fry, increased moderately for chum salmon fry and increased strongly for coho salmon smolts The duration of the emigration period also differed between the groups: 50% of the chum salmon fry emigrated over a 1-wk period compared with a 2- to 3-wk period for coho salmon fry and smolts. We speculate that the emigration timing —temperature relationships and timing of adult spawning represent adaptations for synchronizing emigration with "windows of opportunity" in the ocean or stream. The windows are of different widths and levels of predictability for coho and chum salmon fry and coho salmon smolts.



2017 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric A Parkinson ◽  
Chris J Perrin ◽  
Daniel Ramos-Espinoza ◽  
Eric B Taylor

The Coho Salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, is one of seven species of Pacific salmon and trout native to northeastern Pacific Ocean watersheds. The species is typically anadromous; adults reproduce in fresh water where juveniles reside for 1–2 years before seaward migration after which the majority of growth occurs in the ocean before maturation at 2–4 years old when adults return to fresh water to spawn. Here, we report maturation of Coho Salmon in two freshwater lakes on the north coast of British Columbia apparently without their being to sea. A total of 15 mature fish (11 males and four females) were collected in two lakes across two years. The mature fish were all at least 29 cm in total length and ranged in age from three to five years old. The occurrence of Coho Salmon that have matured in fresh water without first going to sea is exceedingly rare in their natural range, especially for females. Such mature Coho Salmon may represent residual and distinct breeding populations from those in adjacent streams. Alternatively, they may result from the ephemeral restriction in the opportunity to migrate seaward owing to low water levels in the spring when Coho Salmon typically migrate to sea after 1–2 years in fresh water. Regardless of their origin, the ability to mature in fresh water without seaward migration may represent important adaptive life history plasticity in response to variable environments.



1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Quinn ◽  
Graeme M. Tolson

To test the hypothesis that population-specific pheromones guide adult salmonids to their natal streams, juvenile and adult coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) were tested for chemosensory responses in two-choice tanks. Coho salmon from Quinsam and Big Qualicum rivers, British Columbia, Canada, distinguished their own population from the other. Tagging evidence indicates that straying between these two rivers and a third, geographically intermediate river seldom occurs. Thus, population-specific chemicals constitute a potential source of information for homing coho salmon, though their role vis-à-vis imprinted odors from other sources could not be evaluated.







1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1038-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Kabata ◽  
D. J. Whitaker ◽  
J. W. Bagshaw

An unusual case of infection of coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum), in British Columbia, Canada, with a myxosporean Kudoa thyrsitis (Gilchrist) is described. This first report of Kudoa parasitizing a member of the genus Oncorhynchus is interesting also because of the unusual site of Kudoa in the fish, the cardiac muscle.



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