Growth and mercury accumulation in yearling yellow perch,Perca flavescens, in the Ottawa River, Ontario

1982 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Rodgers ◽  
Sami U. Qadri
1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.C. Harris ◽  
W.J. Snodgrass

Abstract Bioenergetic models for mercury accumulation in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were calibrated on the basis of data which indicate that methylmercury concentrations in oxic, unpolluted lake waters are on the order of 0.04 to 0.40 ug m−3. This range reflects improved analytical capabilities in recent years and is significantly lower than earlier estimates on the order of 4 μg m−3. For both yellow perch and walleye, the calibrations of bioenergetics equations in this study strongly suggest that the food uptake pathway is dominant for methylmercury in oxic unpolluted freshwaters, in comparison to uptake across the gills. The food pathway is predicted to be responsible for 90% or more of methylmercury uptake in yellow perch and walleye in oxic freshwaters with methylmercury concentrations less than 0.3 to 0.4 μg m−3. As a result of the dominance of the food uptake pathway, mercury concentrations in fish were strongly influenced by the mercury concentration in the diet. A change in the source of the walleye diet from benthos to fish resulted in a significant increase in the rate of mercury accumulation. The calibrations resulted in a 5-year old yellow perch achieving a mercury concentration of 0.15–0.20 μg g−1, and a 4-year old, 1 kg walleye achieving a mercury concentration of about 0.45 μg g−1.


1976 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Norstrom ◽  
A. E. McKinnon ◽  
A. S. W. deFreitas

A pollutant accumulation model is developed which successfully predicts concentrations of PCBs and methylmercury in tissues of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from the Ottawa River, Canada. The model is based on pollutant biokinetics coupled to fish energetics. The expression for metabolic rate includes a growth dependent term for estimating the contribution to metabolism of seasonal and annual growth in each age-class. Uptake of pollutant from food is based on caloric requirements for respiration and growth coupled to concentration of pollutant in food and its assimilation efficiency from the diet. Uptake of pollutant from water is based on flow of water past the gills for respiration coupled with concentration of pollutant in water and the efficiency of its assimilation by gills. Pollutant clearance is related to body weight raised to the power of −.58, but is independent of metabolic rate. Under steady state conditions of chronic exposure, the predicted ratio of uptake to clearance is roughly constant at all weights, and the slope of a curve of log pollutant concentration in tissues vs. log body weight can be used to establish the exponent of body weight for clearance.


1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd M. Koel ◽  
John J. Peterka

Laboratory-based bioassays were conducted to determine concentrations of sodium-sulfate type salinities that limit the hatching success of several fish species. Survival to hatching (SH) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in sodium-sulfate type waters from Devils Lake, North Dakota, of ≥ 2400 mg/L total dissolved solids (TDS) than in fresh water of 200 mg/L. In waters of 200, 1150, 2400, 4250, and 6350 mg/L TDS, walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) SH was 41, 38, 7, 1, and 0%; northern pike (Esox lucius) SH was 92, 68, 33, 2, and 0%; yellow perch (Perca flavescens) SH was 88, 70, 73, 0, and 0%; white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) SH was 87, 95, 66, 0, and 0%; common carp (Cyprinus carpio) SH was 71, 69, 49, 63, and 25%.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 2474-2482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay A. Nelson ◽  
John J. Magnuson

Little is known about the animals that occupy naturally acidic habitats. To better understand the physiological state of animals from temperate, naturally acidic systems, we compared metabolite stores and meristics of two yellow perch (Perca flavescens) populations in northern Wisconsin. One population originated from a naturally acidic, dystrophic lake (Acid-Lake-Perch, ALP) and had previously been shown to have enhanced tolerance to low pH. The second population came from two nearby interconnected circumneutral, mesotrophic lakes (Neutral-Lake-Perch, NLP). Perch were collected throughout the year to account for seasonal effects and to discern whether patterns of metabolite utilization differed between populations. ALP had smaller livers containing less glycogen and greater muscle glycogen content than NLP. The ALP also had significantly greater liver and visceral lipid contents, and females from this population committed a greater fraction of their body mass to egg production. We interpret these results as indicative of physiological divergence at the population level in yellow perch. These results are discussed as possible products of H+ -driven changes in metabolism and as possible products of different life history strategies between populations. Our results also show that perch living in acidic, dystrophic Wharton Lake are not acid stressed.


1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 1774-1783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloyd L. Smith Jr.

In an investigation of the commercial fishery of Red Lakes, Minnesota, for the 46-yr period 1930–75, catch statistics were analyzed, and the dynamics of the perch and walleye populations were examined. Mean annual yields of walleye for two statistical periods, 1930–53 and 1954–75, were 309,900 and 245,100 kg, respectively for walleyes, and 96,400 and 109,500 kg for perch. Annual abundance (CPE based on average catches per day per 5-net units of gill nets) varied from 3.8 to 64.6 kg for walleye, and from 2.5 to 34.4 kg for perch. Causes of fluctuations in harvestable stock were directly related to strength of year-classes and to growth rate during the season of capture. Year-class strength was not related to the abundance of parent stock or of potential predators. The respective strengths of year-classes of perch and walleye in the same year were positively correlated (r = 0.859, P < 0.01), and are directly related to climatic factors. Growth rate of walleye in different calendar years varied from +30.7 to −42.2% of mean growth, and that of perch from +13.4 to −8.6% (1941–56). Growing season began in mid-June and was almost over by September 1. Walleye yield could be enhanced by starting harvest July 1 instead of early June. Perch yield could be improved by harvesting small perch. Key words: Percidae, Perca, population dynamics, Stizostedion, long-term yield


1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 1903-1915 ◽  
Author(s):  
S A Thayer ◽  
R C Haas ◽  
R D Hunter ◽  
R H Kushler

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in enclosures located in an experimental pond adjacent to Lake St. Clair, Michigan, increased sedimentation rate but had relatively minor effects on percent organic matter and percent nitrogen content of sediment. In contrast, sediment from Lake St. Clair adjacent to zebra mussels was significantly higher in carbon than that 0.5 m away. Zebra mussels increase the nutritional value of surficial sediment and provide greater structural heterogeneity, which is probably more important in causing change among zoobenthos. Zoobenthos and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) diet were dominated by dipteran larvae and leeches. Zoobenthos was significantly different between enclosures with and without zebra mussels. Treatments with zebra mussels had significantly more oligochaetes and tended to have more crustaceans (isopods and amphipods). In June, yellow perch without zebra mussels consumed significantly more zooplankton, and those with mussels had more crustaceans in their diet. Zooplankton density was greater in treatments without zebra mussels. Yellow perch with zebra mussels grew significantly more than those without mussels. Zebra mussels in the enclosures neither reproduced nor were eaten by yellow perch; hence. the observed growth differences were due to indirect effects involving zebra mussel induced changes in benthic structure and biota.


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