Overwintering habitats of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and other juvenile salmonids in the Keogh River system, British Columbia

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 254-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Swales ◽  
F. Caron ◽  
J. R. Irvine ◽  
C. D. Levings

Catches of overwintering juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Keogh River system, Vancouver Island, were higher in two small (8 and 25 ha), shallow (mean depth 2 – 3 m) lakes and their outlet and inlet streams than in the main river, where steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) were predominant. Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma), cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki), and threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were also present in the lakes. The distribution of coho salmon in the lakes was restricted largely to areas close to the bank, with few fish being captured in offshore areas or in mid-water. Apparent differences in the abundance of coho salmon between the two lakes may have been related to differences in fish community composition, with sticklebacks being particularly numerous in Misty Lake, where catches of coho salmon were lower than in Long Lake. The population density and biomass of coho salmon overwintering in Long Lake were estimated to be 176 fish/ha and 1.14 kg ha−1, respectively. The mean length of coho salmon in the lakes was greater than that of coho salmon in the tributary streams and main river, and the mean length of the salmon in the lakes generally increased with distance away from shore.

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.


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 1991-1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. McDonald

An examination of 220 chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), 84 coho salmon (O. kisutch), 145 steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri), and 21 cutthroat trout (S. clarki) for Ceratomyxa shasta (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) from 16 localities in the Fraser River drainage, British Columbia, showed that at all sites examined these salmonid species were infected, with a prevalence ranging between 11 and 100%. The study concludes that C. shasta, the causative agent of the salmonid disease ceratomyxosis, is widely distributed in the Fraser drainage basin and discusses these results in relation to proposed fish culture in the region.


1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 2699-2702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary A. Wedemeyer

Moving 4–5-in. coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) held in soft (20 ppm CaCO3) water from the relatively light loading density of 0.5 lb/ft3 to 1, 2, or 4 lb/ft3 (density index, DI = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8) caused significant stress as indicated by loss of feeding behavior, but only minimal physiological disturbances, as indicated by lack of hyperglycemia or hypochloremia. However, moving them to 6 or 12 lb/ft3 (DI = 1.2, 2.4) caused significant physiological stress which required at least a week for recovery. Smolting coho salmon were physiologically stressed by population densities of 1 lb/ft3 or more and a subclinical corynebacterial kidney infection was activated. Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) (4–5 in.) were physiologically stressed when moved and held at 1 lb/ft3 or more but retained normal feeding behavior. This indicates that handling and crowding stress will be minimized in softwater areas if densities in fish distribution trucks or in ponds or raceways during disease treatments are held to 0.1–0.5 lb/gal.


1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 312-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Andrew Dolloff

The effect of predation by river otters (Lutra canadensis) on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) in a Southeast Alaska watershed was inferred by examining the number and size distribution of sagittal otoliths that were found in otter scats. Individual scats contained up to 408 otoliths, indicating that at least 200 fish had been eaten between defecations. Otoliths from juvenile salmonids outnumbered those from coastrange sculpins (Cottus aleuticus) by about six to one. Based on examination of over 8000 otoliths found in otter scats, at least 3300 juvenile salmonids were eaten by two river otters and their two young in the Kadashan River system during a 6-wk period in late spring 1985.


1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1487-1490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott W. Johnson ◽  
Jonathan Heifetz

Osmoregulatory ability of wild coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Dolly Varden char (Salvelinus malma) smolts migrating from a small stream in southeastern Alaska was assessed by plasma Na+ levels after a 24-h seawater challenge. Osmoregulatory ability of coho salmon was unaffected by time of out-migration, water temperature, and fish size. Osmoregulatory ability of Dolly Varden char was apparently affected by time of out-migration or water temperature but not by fish size. Char migrating in the first half of the migration period, when water temperature was usually < 8.0 °C, had lower plasma Na+ levels than did char migrating in the second half when temperatures were [Formula: see text]. A plasma Na+ threshold of 170 mmol∙L−1, used by others to separate smolts from silvery parr, indicated that 70% of the coho salmon and 80% of the Dolly Varden char we sampled were physiologically prepared to enter seawater. The remaining fish may have suffered some level of osmoregulatory stress.


1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1205-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilma M. Ord ◽  
Monique Le Berre ◽  
Pierre de Kinkelin

Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) fry and yearlings were compared with hybrids of rainbow trout and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) for susceptibility to viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). In three trials, exposure to waterborne infectivity consistently resulted in a 77% mortality of rainbow trout fry while loss among the hybrid fry averaged only 11%. Tests showed survivors might be carriers of virus. Hybrid yearlings infected by gill brushing were fully refractory to VHS whereas mortality (3:8) and viremia were recorded among gill-infected rainbow trout yearlings.


1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Meehan ◽  
Logan A. Norris ◽  
Howard S. Sears

To determine acute toxicity to juvenile (1) pink, chum, coho, and sockeye salmon, (2) Dolly Varden char, and (3) rainbow trout, 2,4-D acid, butyl and isooctyl esters were tested in southeast Alaska. A comparable test was made in Oregon using coho salmon fingerlings. The mean percent mortality after 96 h and the highest concentration of herbicide that did not produce any mortality were determined for each formulation tested.At less than 50 ppm 2,4-D acid produced no mortality except in pink salmon fry. The butyl ester was most toxic causing nearly complete mortality in all species at concentrations > 1.0 ppm and the isooctyl ester least toxic of the ester formulations. Alaskan and Oregon coho fingerlings were similar in their responses to 2,4-D acid, butyl and isooctyl esters. The toxicities of three different formulations of isooctyl ester, a PGBE ester, and butyl ester to Alaskan coho fingerlings were also determined. There were few or no differences in toxicity among isooctyl ester formulations. The butyl and PGBE esters were similar in toxicity.


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