Growth and Reproduction of the Lake Whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, in Lac la Ronge, Saskatchewan

1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 2091-2100 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. U. Qadri
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Young Fish ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

In Lac la Ronge the lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis (Mitchill)) spawned from late October until the middle of November at ages of 8 years and over. The growing season lasted from late May to early October and young fish grew faster than older ones and tended to have a longer growing season. Ages for 1604 fish taken during 4 years showed that they grew to a fork length of about 16 inches in 10 years, the rate being slower than for lake whitefish in other large lakes in North America. The length-weight relationships were linear: for the open lake, log W = 3.48 log L – 3.93, and for Hunter Bay, log W = 3.26 log L – 3.66. The males matured a little earlier than females and their life span was somewhat shorter. The sex ratio was approximately 1:1.

Fecundity Comparisons for Various Stocks of Lake Whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey ◽  
C. W. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Nonlinear Relationship ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Relative Fecundity ◽  
Great Slave Lake ◽  
The Relationship

We found no significant differences in slope or intercept for the regression of loge fecundity on loge fork length among samples of whitefish from four lakes near Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. The equation describing the relationship between fecundity and fork length for these populations was:[Formula: see text]Five other populations for which length–fecundity relationships could be calculated had length exponents ranging from 3.20 to 4.38, suggesting a nonlinear relationship between weight and fecundity. Six of the nine populations as well as four others for which limited data were available all had similar relative fecundities. Fish from Buck Lake in Alberta and from Lake Erie had high relative fecundities while fish from Great Slave Lake had low relative fecundity.

Why are dwarf fish so small? An energetic analysis of polymorphism in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 394-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Trudel ◽  
Alain Tremblay ◽  
Roger Schetagne ◽  
Joseph B Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Energy Budget ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Subarctic Lakes ◽  
Lower Growth ◽  
Chemical Tracers ◽  
Mass Balance Models ◽  
Consumption Rates

Sympatric populations of dwarf lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) (DLW) and normal lake whitefish (NLW) commonly occur in north temperate and subarctic lakes. DLW have a much lower growth, mature earlier, and have a shorter life span than NLW. Furthermore, they are usually not found when cisco (Coregonus artedi) are present, possibly due to competitive exclusion. In this study, we compared the energy budget of DLW, NLW, and cisco using food consumption rates estimated with mass balance models of chemical tracers (i.e., mercury and radiocesium). These chemicals are globally distributed and can be readily detected in fish and their prey. Our analysis showed that the energy budget of DLW and cisco was similar. DLW and cisco consumed on average 40–50% more food than NLW. The conversion efficiency of DLW and cisco was two to three times lower than that of NLW. These results suggest that DLW and cisco allocated a larger fraction of their energy budget to metabolism than NLW. Our analysis also suggests that the earlier maturation and shorter life span of DLW and cisco may be due to their higher metabolic rates.

The Lake Whitefish in Kerr Lake, New Brunswick

1952 ◽  
Vol 8c (5) ◽  
pp. 340-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Small Lake

Coregonus clupeaformis was taken in a small lake of southern New Brunswick. Although the species had not been known to occur in this region, this population is evidently indigenous. Fish of ages III–V were taken, the largest being 252 mm. in fork length.

Dynamics of an Exploited Population of Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

1977 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 942-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Bell ◽  
Paul Handford ◽  
Carl Dietz
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Annual Rate ◽  
Multiple Regression Equation ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
History Of ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Key Words Population Dynamics

The life history of the exploited lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) population of Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, is described. Mean age is high, having increased under continued exploitation during the last 30 yr. A method of estimating the population age structure is described. The apparent annual rate of survival of adult fish has fluctuated markedly, but on average seems to lie in the interval 0.40–0.50; the annual rate of natural survival is estimated to be 0.53. Juveniles survive better than adults. Rate of survival during the 1st yr of life was estimated to be about 0.0002. Maturity was late, the median age at first reproduction being 6–61/2 yr. The regressions of fecundity on age and length are described; length now contributes almost all the attributable variance to maturity and fecundity. The sex ratio fluctuates in time; this is caused by the fluctuations in age structure, since sex ratio varies with age. The relationship between sex ratio and age is used to calculate the relative rates of survival of male and female fish.These data are used to construct a life table and to compute population parameters. It is inferred that the ability of the population to respond to exploitation has been eroded during the last 30 yr. In some respects, the life history of the Lesser Slave Lake stock appears to be unusual.After about 30 yr of large-amplitude oscillation the whitefish population collapsed in 1965. This does not seem to have been caused by chronic overfishing. In the first place, the rate of fishing mortality is no more than moderate. Secondly, a multiple regression equation describing whitefish catch in 48 other Alberta lakes in which there has been no overall decline in catch successfully predicts the observed mean catch at Lesser Slave Lake. The oscillations in catch are claimed to reflect a limit cycle in the abundance of the whitefish, driven by a lagged relationship between a predator (the fishermen) and its prey (the whitefish). Whether or not this cycle was deterministically stable, such behavior will inevitably put the population in risk of extinction during troughs in the cycle. We suggest that current management policies may encourage the destabilization of whitefish populations, and we propose a remedy. Key words: population dynamics, population regulation, life history, exploitation, survival, fecundity, Coregonus clupeaformis

Evolution of Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in North America during the Pleistocene: Genetic Differentiation between Sympatric Populations

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bodaly ◽  
J. W. Clayton ◽  
C. C. Lindsey ◽  
J. Vuorinen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
New England ◽  
Glacial Refugia ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Sympatric Populations ◽  
Sympatric Forms ◽  
Electrophoretic Data ◽  
Glacial Refuge

We use electrophoretic data on dehydrogenase enzymes to examine the relatedness of sympatric populations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and provide evidence for the existence of a glacial refuge race of lake whitefish in eastern North America. This Acadian race is presently found in New England, the Gaspé peninsula of Québec, and New Brunswick. It probably survived glaciation in a refugium on the exposed coastal plain of northeastern North America. In areas of contact, most glacial races appear to introgress and do not coexist in sympatry. However, sympatric pairs of populations occur (or occurred) within the ranges of all races of lake whitefish. Allele frequencies for at least one enzyme system examined for most sympatric pairs were significantly different, indicating that these sympatric populations are wholly or substantially, isolated reproductively from each other. Both members of the population pairs examined in the Yukon Territory, Ontario, and Labrador were genetically characteristic of the glacial races of their region. This suggests that they are not the result of speciation due to geographic isolation in different glacial refugia. Thus, their origin appears to be postglacial, but may be older if present genetic similarities are due to recent gene flow between sympatric forms.

Dynamics of An Exploited Population of Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) In Lake Huron

1983 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1556-1567 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Henderson ◽  
J. J. Collins ◽  
J. A. Reckahn
Keyword(s):  
Fork Length ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Population Abundance ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Stock Size ◽  
Parental Stock ◽  
Intrinsic Mechanism ◽  
Class Strength ◽  
Population Sizes

A population of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the waters off eastern Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron was sampled from 1950 to 1982 by an experimental pound net in the outer basin of South Bay. Year-class strength increased markedly from 1947 to 1977; the increase began with the decline of the 1943 year-class. The fork length attained by age 1–3 fish decreased during the study, but no trend was apparent for older fish. Natural mortality of year-classes varied considerably, and was probably related to the abundance of lamprey. The annual exploitation rate increased from 1 to 37% between 1960 and 1977. Year-class strength was not correlated with the thermal regime during spawning and hatching. Recruitment was a function of parental stock size, and there was evidence that survival from the egg to juvenile stage was inversely correlated with parental stock size. Instantaneous growth rates (G) during the 2nd year of growth were inversely related to year-class strength. Growth (G) in the 1st year was positively correlated with estimated surface water temperatures. The sizes attained by ages 2 and 3 were inversely related to total population abundance. Catchability coefficients in 144-mm-mesh gill nets were inversely related to estimated population sizes. An intrinsic mechanism of population regulation is proposed whereby recruitment is a function of parental stock size, juvenile survival is inversely related to stock size, and growth is inversely correlated with population abundance.

Growth and Recruitment in Experimentally Exploited Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) Populations

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Healey
Keyword(s):  
Natural Variation ◽  
Population Regulation ◽  
Logical Consequence ◽  
Coregonus Clupeaformis ◽  
Lake Whitefish ◽  
Young Fish ◽  
The Past ◽  
Class Strength ◽  
Size At Age ◽  
Established Population

From 1971 to 1978 I conducted an exploitation experiment on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in four Northwest Territories lakes. The objective was to test the hypotheses that, when exploited, growth and recruitment would increase in the populations, and that the degree of increase would be proportional to the intensity of exploitation. Significant increases in size-at-age were recorded in the exploited lakes, and the degree and persistence of the increase were proportional to the intensity of exploitation. Good recruitment was stimulated in the heavily exploited lake, and to a lesser degree in the moderately exploited lake. The hypotheses were, therefore, corroborated. Analyses of growth and year-class strength in the unexploited control lake and the lightly exploited lake indicated that natural variation in growth and recruitment, on a similar scale to that stimulated by exploitation, had occurred in the past. The compensatory responses of lake whitefish populations to exploitation appear to be a logical consequence of the natural population regulating mechanisms for the species. The results of my experiment indicate that in unexploited lakes, recruitment and growth of young fish is regulated by the established population of mature fish.Key words: lake whitefish, growth, recruitment, exploitation, population regulation

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