The White Sucker Population of South Bay, Lake Huron, and Effects of the Sea Lamprey on It

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 2117-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Coble
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Minimal Distance ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Trout Population ◽  
Relationship Of

Information on ecology and dynamics of white suckers, Catostomus commersoni (Lacépède), in South Bay, Lake Huron, was obtained from experimental fishing over more than a decade and from a tagging program in 1955 and 1956. (A total of 1667 suckers were tagged and 8% of them were subsequently recovered.) The fish moved about extensively in the bay, minimal distance travelled averaging 3.8 km during a summer. Nevertheless, it was necessary to divide the bay into discrete fishing areas for calculating population and mortality estimates. The length–weight relationship of adult suckers in June was W = 5.883 × 10−4 L2.92262; where W is weight in pounds and L is fork length in inches. Growth averaged only about 7.6 mm/year, and an annulus was not formed on the scales every year. In 1956 the population may have amounted to about 160,000 adult white suckers, or 23 fish per hectare or 17.5 kg/hectare, for the part of the bay less than 36 m deep. The exploitation rate appeared to be less than 2%. The annual survival rate of suckers larger than approximately 38 cm appeared to be about 70–75% decreasing with size of fish. Although it is not known if the size of the population has changed, the size composition changed between 1953 and 1964 through the loss of larger fish. Marked changes in the fauna of South Bay subsequent to the late 1940's include the invasion of the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus, and the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson), the disappearance of the lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum), and the decline of the population of the cisco, Coregonus (= Leucichthys) artedii LeSueur. The loss of the larger fish in the white sucker population was probably caused by the sea lamprey, for it occurred after the destruction of the lake trout population and corresponded with increased incidence of lamprey scarring of suckers.

Interspecific Relations among Fish Species in South Bay, Lake Huron, 1949–84

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s10-s14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Henderson ◽  
F. E. J. Fry
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Coregonus Artedii

Of the nine species caught in pound and gill nets in South Bay, Lake Huron (lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), splake (S. namaycush × S. fontinalis), burbot (Lota lota), lake hering (Coregonus artedii), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens)), only yellow perch, white sucker, and lake whitefish were significantly related to the abundances of all other fish species (multiple regression) from 1965 to 1984. For the longer period (pound nets 1949–84), all but smelt, burbot, and white sucker were dependent upon variations in the abundance of the nine other species. For the same period (1965–84) and species (nine), the abundances only of yellow perch and white suckers were significantly and positively related in two basins of the Bay. None of the inverse correlations between species abundances was significant in both basins. Within the Outer Basin, only the correlations between alewife and lake herring (r = −0.49, r = −0.45) and yellow perch and white sucker (r = +0.55, r = +0.47) were significant in the same direction for both time periods (1949–64 and 1965–84, respectively). We concluded that there was little evidence that the abundances of species were affected significantly by interspecific influences.

Fecundity and Egg Size of a Brood Stock of Salvelinus fontinalis × S. namaycush Hybrids (Splake)

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. B. Ayles
Keyword(s):  
Egg Size ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Salvelinus Fontinalis ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Brood Stock ◽  
Trout Population ◽  
Egg Diameter

Estimates of average egg diameter and average number of eggs per female from a brood stock of Salvelinus fontinalis × S. namaycush (splake) hybrids were 0.468 cm and 1169 eggs, respectively. Variation in egg size between females was attributable to variation in both size and age of the fish, whereas differences in fecundity were attributed only to differences in female size. At a given size a splake had more and larger eggs than have been reported for lake trout. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to the reestablishment of a viable trout population in Lake Huron.

THE SWIMBLADDER GAS CONTENT OF SOME FRESHWATER FISH WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE PHYSOSTOMES

1953 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 547-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
White Sucker ◽  
Dissolved Nitrogen ◽  
Longnose Sucker

Swimbladder gas samples were analyzed from 10 species of fish caught at various depths extending from the surface to 486 ft. in Lake Huron and adjoining waters. The physoclists studied, yellow perch and burbot, had gas compositions which agreed with previous findings. From progressively greater depths, these displayed decreasing nitrogen percentages and increasing oxygen percentages. The physostomes, lake trout, lake whitefish, shallowwater cisco, deepwater cisco, bloater, American smelt, white sucker, and longnose sucker, displayed strikingly high percentages of nitrogen and correspondingly low percentages of oxygen at all depths. Carbon dioxide was found only in traces in both groups. Results of flotation pressures determined for American smelt, shallowwater cisco, and bloater indicated that most specimens were probably buoyant at depths of capture and that results of gas analyses were indicative of the gas compositions at depths of capture. Both physostomes and physoclists from the greatest depths of capture displayed swimbladder nitrogen pressures in excess of 0.8 of an atmosphere, the partial pressure of dissolved nitrogen in most natural waters. The excess was slight in physoclists but in physostomes it was nearly equal to the total (hydrostatic plus atmospheric) pressure.

Effects of forestry roads on reproductive habitat and exploitation of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in three experimental lakes

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (S2) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M Gunn ◽  
Rod Sein
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Spawning Habitat ◽  
Trout Population ◽  
Access Road ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
Opaque Plastic ◽  
Spawning Sites

This study was designed to test the effects of two potential impacts of forest access roads on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) lakes in the Boreal Shield ecozone: (i) loss of reproductive habitat through siltation and (ii) increased access and exploitation. During an 9-year study (1991-1999) in Whitepine Lake, access to seven original spawning sites and over 250 alternate spawning sites was progressively removed by covering the substrate with opaque plastic sheeting to simulate siltation. No effects on recruitment of lake trout have yet been detected. Mark-recapture estimates of juvenile (<370 mm fork length) abundance remained high, mean body size did not increase, and emergent alevins continued to be produced from the alternate spawning sites each year. Similar results occurred in a short-term study in Helen Lake. The lack of obvious effects of reproductive habitat loss was in sharp contrast with the rapid and severe effects that fishing pressure exerted on the lake trout population in Michaud Lake where access was improved by construction of a 12-km forest access road. These findings suggest that lake trout can tolerate substantial losses in spawning habitat, but natural populations, particularly in small lakes, must be protected from excessive exploitation.

Recent Changes in the Aquatic Food Web of Eastern Lake Ontario

1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (S2) ◽  
pp. s37-s52 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Christie ◽  
K. A. Scott ◽  
P. G. Sly ◽  
R. H. Strus
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Osmerus Mordax ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Rainbow Smelt ◽  
Aquatic Food ◽  
Representative Samples

During the past 10 yr there have been dramatic increases in piscivorous populations of walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) in the Bay of Quinte and of planted lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the Kingston basin of Lake Ontario. This paper documents changes in the prey stocks shared by these piscivores, including reduction in size and abundance of the slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) with subsequent stock equilibration and unabated reduction in the size and abundance of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), both owing to predation pressure from the lake trout. The third primary prey species, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), has not yet suffered severely from the depredations of the piscivores. Symptoms of the effects are discernible, however, and the implications of a possible collapse are discussed. Lake trout survival and growth have not yet been affected by the changes in prey availability, but their diet has shifted both in response to their own expanded size composition and relative abundance of the three prey species. Increased utilization of alewife makes the hunting of the trout more pelagic. Problems of obtaining representative samples of the prey are discussed.

Final Observations on the Survival of Planted Lake Trout in South Bay, Lake Huron

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2413-2424 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Budd ◽  
F. E. J. Fry ◽  
P. S. M. Pearlstone
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Natural Mortality ◽  
Sea Lampreys ◽  
Few Data ◽  
Annual Mortality

Yearling lake trout were planted in South Bay, Lake Huron, an area with a sea lamprey population, each year from 1949 to 1955 with the exception of 1950. Fish were recaptured in pound and gillnets. Those recaptured in pound nets were tagged and released. Data from recaptures of tagged fish have been used to calculate yearly population estimates that were used to determine the annual mortality of certain year-classes. The fish were also examined for lamprey wounds and scars and the results tabulated according to the age of the fish.Before age IV annual mortality of South Bay lake trout does not appear to differ significantly from annual mortalities observed in lake trout populations in the absence of sea lampreys. Thereafter, annual mortality rates rise sharply and the population disappears at the age of VI or VII. No spawning population was maintained.Prior to age III no lamprey marks were observed on recaptured lake trout. From ages III to V the percentages of fish bearing lamprey marks increased from 5.2 to 38.8. This trend may continue through age VI but too few data are present to be certain. Before age VI there appears to be a direct correlation between annual lamprey marking rates and annual natural mortality rates.

New estimates of lethality of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) attacks on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush): implications for fisheries management

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P Madenjian ◽  
Brian D Chipman ◽  
J Ellen Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
And Control

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control in North America costs millions of dollars each year, and control measures are guided by assessment of lamprey-induced damage to fisheries. The favored prey of sea lamprey in freshwater ecosystems has been lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). A key parameter in assessing sea lamprey damage, as well as managing lake trout fisheries, is the probability of an adult lake trout surviving a lamprey attack. The conventional value for this parameter has been 0.55, based on laboratory experiments. In contrast, based on catch curve analysis, mark–recapture techniques, and observed wounding rates, we estimated that adult lake trout in Lake Champlain have a 0.74 probability of surviving a lamprey attack. Although sea lamprey growth in Lake Champlain was lower than that observed in Lake Huron, application of an individual-based model to both lakes indicated that the probability of surviving an attack in Lake Champlain was only 1.1 times higher than that in Lake Huron. Thus, we estimated that lake trout survive a lamprey attack in Lake Huron with a probability of 0.66. Therefore, our results suggested that lethality of a sea lamprey attack on lake trout has been overestimated in previous model applications used in fisheries management.

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