Helminths in an intensively stocked population of lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, from Lake Huron

Eighty stocked lake trout Salvelinus namaycush (Salmonidae), collected from 2 locations in Lake Huron in May 1995, were examined for parasites. The parasite fauna of this top predator in Lake Huron was characterized by only 6 helminth species. Echinorhynchus salmonis infected all lake trout with a mean intensity of 163.9. The intensity of this acanthocephalan species significantly increased with host length and weight. Eubothrium salvelini infected 78 lake trout with a maximum number of 81 scoleces counted. Diplostomum sp., Cyathocephalus truncatus, Capillaria salvelini, and Neoechinorhynchus sp. infrequently infected lake trout. The low parasite species richness in these lake trout is believed to be due to their large size at stocking and to the loss of historical enzootic host-parasite relationships that followed the absence of this fish species in Lake Huron for 26 yr.     

Investigating the extent of parallelism in morphological and genomic divergence among lake trout ecotypes in Lake Superior

Understanding the emergence of species through the process of ecological speciation is a central question in evolutionary biology which also has implications for conservation and management. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is renowned for the occurrence of different ecotypes linked to resource and habitat use throughout North America. We aimed to unravel the fine genetic structure of the four lake trout ecotypes in Lake Superior. A total of 486 individuals from four sites were genotyped at 6822 filtered SNPs using RADseq technology. Our results revealed different extent of morphological and genetic differentiation within the different sites. Overall, genetic differentiation was weak but significant and was on average three times higher between sites (mean F_ST = 0.016) than between ecotypes within sites (mean F_ST = 0.005) indicating higher level of gene flow or a more recent shared ancestor between ecotypes within each site than between populations of the same ecotype. Evidence of divergent selection was also found between ecotypes and/or in association with morphological variation. Outlier loci found in genes related to lipid metabolism and visual acuity were of particular interest in this context of ecotypic divergence. However, we did not find clear indication of parallelism at the genomic level, despite the presence of phenotypic parallelism among some ecotypes from different sampling sites. Overall, the occurrence of different levels of both genomic and phenotypic differentiation between ecotypes within each site with several differentiated loci linked to relevant biological functions supports the presence of a continuum of divergence in lake trout.     

Life history characteristics of brown trout in lakes at different stages of acidification

In 66 Norwegian lakes with allopatric populations of brown trout Salmo trutta that ranged from highly acidified to non-acid (pH 4·7–6·6) there was a significant inverse correlation between mean age and relative abundance (CPUE). As mean annual survival rates were not significantly related to CPUE, this population response may indicate that recruitment was lower in low-density lakes. Age-specific masses were significantly higher in populations that had declined in abundance than in unaffected populations. Mean body mass at sexual maturity in both males and females was inversely correlated with CPUE. Between populations, high age at maturity was associated with high survival rates in both sexes. Age at maturity correlated positively with specific growth rate between the ages of 1 and 2 years in females only.     

Sex steroids in plasma of lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis during spawning in Lake Erie

Lake whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, were collected from the Western basin of Lake Erie during spawning. Free and conjugated (sulfated and glucuronidated) steroids including testosterone (T), 11-ketotestosterone (11-kT), estradiol-17beta (E2) and 17,20beta-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20betaP) were measured in the plasma by radioimmunoassay. In males, the progression of spermiation was characterized by a significant decrease in plasma free steroids, whereas the levels of conjugated steroids remained similar and low, except for sulfated and glucuronidated testosterone. Plasma sex steroids did not correlate with the density or the motility of the spermatozoa. In females, the concentration of plasma T was significantly higher in preovulating than in ovulating females. The levels of E2 and 17,20betaP in ovulating lake whitefish exhibited large variations ranging from below detection limit to 0.9 ng ml(-1) and from 0.2 to 13 ng ml(-1), respectively. Analysis of conjugated steroids revealed high levels of glucuronidated and sulfated 17,20betaP and glucuronidated T in females ovulating in December. However, no significant differences in the proportion of the conjugated steroids were observed.     

Individual-level analysis of early life history traits in hatchery-reared lake trout

In a factorial crossing experiment with individually reared lake trout Salvelinus namaycush eggs. genetic effects explained only a little of the total phenotypic variance in hatching time and alevin size, whereas environmental and maternal effects explained a much larger proportion of variation. Larger eggs produced larger hatchlings, but survival was independent of egg size.     

Movement and mortality of stocked brown trout in a stream

The movement and mortality of stocked brown trout Salmo trutta were investigated using radio telemetry. Four brown trout left the study area whereas the remaining fish were stationary. After 5 weeks, 13 out of 50 tagged brown trout were still alive in the stream. Surviving fish had a significantly lower mean movement per day than fish, which later either died or disappeared. This difference in behaviour was most pronounced 2 to 8 days after release. Predation by the otter Lutra lutra was probably the main cause of the observed mortality.     

Microbiological examination of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario sediments

Diver collected cores from three sites in Lake Erie, west of Cleveland, Eastern basin and near Buffalo, and one from Lake Ontario near the mouth of the Niagara River, were sectioned to 20 cm and examined for sulfur cycle and nitrogen cycle bacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, insoluble organic and inorganic phosphate solubilizing bacteria and manganese oxidizing bacteria. Eh, pH, nitrogen, organic carbon and percentage moisture determinations were also made. Data from this study support and confirm other microbiological data collected from Lower Great Lakes sediment and also support the hypothesis that microbial flora of similar type sediments are numerically similar irrespective of the sediments source within the Lower Great Lakes.     

Temporal variations of genetic introgression in stocked brown trout populations

Allozymes were used to analyse the genetic impact of hatchery brown trout Salmo trutt a, morpha fario stocked in wild Mediterranean populations to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of introgression (regulation, elimination or homogenization). Analysis of the genetic structure of populations from the same river drainage basin but subjected to different incidences was performed in space and time (data on two generations and 2 years of sampling). Introgression is associated with high deficits of heterozygotes and linkage disequilibria. Genetic divergence according to age group was observed. These results may indicate selective forces acting against domesticated genes and limiting hybridization between the two forms.     

Evidence for selective angling of introduced trout and their hybrids in a stocked brown trout population

Comparisons of the genetic composition of brown trout Salmo trutta captured by anglers and by electrofishing based on three diagnostic microsatellite loci provided strong evidence that angling is selective in a stocked brown trout population. At two sites, anglers caught significantly younger trout and proportionally more introduced hatchery trout and hybrids than were observed in electrofishing surveys. Selective angling, in combination with a small legal catch size, may have considerably eliminated introduced trout and hybrids before spawning at the study sites, and thus may have reduced the introgression of alien genes into the local gene pool. Angling can be an important factor influencing the genetic structure of fish populations and should be taken into account in studies of introgressive hybridization in stocked fish populations and their management. In this study, demographic consequences of stocking were not assessed. Thus, even though the genetic consequences of stocking may be minimal or largely reversible through angling, resource competition between native and introduced trout, until they reach legal catch size, is expected to have a negative effect on the productivity of the indigenous trout population.     

Implications of testicular constrictions on spermatogenesis in Lake Ontario lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush

This study examines the histological significance of a testicular anomaly among hatcheryraised lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush , introduced into Lake Ontario as yearlings and subsequently recaptured at ages ranging from 4 to 7 years. The anomaly has been termed a constriction. Histological examination revealed that lake trout with constricted testes demonstrated delayed cycles of spermatogenesis throughout the testes at spawning time compared with normal testes. Constrictions were formed when spermatogonia within an adjacent group of lobules failed to undergo mitosis, hypertrophied and were subsequently resorbed. The walls of these lobules subsequently collapsed and were resorbed and replaced by dense fibrous connective tissue. The significance of these observations in relation to hormonal mechanisms and its potential effect upon reproduction in these fish is discussed.     

High levels of MHC class II allelic diversity in lake trout from Lake Superior

Sequence variation in a 216 bp portion of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II B1 domain was examined in 74 individual lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from different locations in Lake Superior. Forty-three alleles were obtained which encoded 71-72 amino acids of the mature protein. These sequences were compared with previous data obtained from five Pacific salmon species and Atlantic salmon using the same primers. Although all of the lake trout alleles clustered together in the neighbor-joining analysis of amino acid sequences, one amino acid allelic lineage was shared with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a species in another genus which probably diverged from Salvelinus more than 10-20 million years ago. As shown previously in other salmonids, the level of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution (dN) exceeded the level of synonymous substitution (dS). The level of nucleotide diversity at the MHC class II B1 locus was considerably higher in lake trout than in the Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that lake trout colonized Lake Superior from more than one refuge following the Wisconsin glaciation. Recent population bottlenecks may have reduced nucleotide diversity in Pacific salmon populations.     

Polymorphism in lake trout in Great Bear Lake: intra‐lake morphological diversification at two spatial scales

Great Bear Lake is the most northerly lake of its size and provides unique opportunities for intraspecific diversification. Despite increasing attention to intraspecific polymorphism, several knowledge gaps remain (e.g. determining the extent of intraspecific diversification in large relatively pristine lakes and at which spatial scale it can occur). We focused on geographical patterns of morphological differentiation within lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) to describe two levels of intralake diversification in Great Bear Lake. We used a combination of geometric and traditional linear measurements to quantify differences in body shape, head shape, and fin and body lengths among 910 adult lake trout from the five distinct arms of Great Bear Lake. Although head and fin linear measurements discriminated the three common morphotypes at the whole‐lake level, inter‐arm variation in body shape was observed within each morphotype. A comparison of genetic and morphological distance matrices revealed the lack of an association between the two sets of data, although both comparisons revealed an association in the inter‐arm variation patterns among morphotypes, suggesting a phenotypically plastic response to distinct environments. The whole‐lake and inter‐arm morphological variation observed within lake trout demonstrates the importance of considering scale, especially across large lakes that exhibit marked complexity and a variety of freshwater habitats. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 114 , 109–125.     

Life history invariants,age at maturity and the ferox trout

Summary Data on brown trout in Norway and on Arctic char in Norway, Iceland, Greenland or Canada are used to make three points about life-history invariants. First, invariants constructed from adaptive programmes of development that are conditioned on growth and mortality rates are more complicated than those constructed solely on the basis of dimensional analysis, but are more consistent with the data. Second, if one allows the possibility of escaping a size ceiling (e.g. by switching from planktivory to piscivory) ferox trout — brown trout that are exceptionally large and long lived — are predicted with the theory only if mortality is size dependent and the growth rate on food sources with different asymptotic sizes differs. Third, a successful empirical approach for finding life-history invariants can be more fully understood as the result of adaptive programmes of development.     

镜湖萼花臂尾轮虫种群内不同基因型克隆的生活史特征

应用生命表统计学等方法,比较了15、20、25和30℃4个温度下镜湖萼花臂尾轮虫种群内13个不同基因型克隆的生命表统计学参数和后代混交雌体百分率等生活史特征．结果表明：轮虫的世代时间、平均寿命、出生时的生命期望值、内禀增长率、净生殖率和后代混交雌体百分率对升高温度的反应均因克隆的不同而存在差异;温度、克隆及两者间的交互作用对其也都具有极显著影响．表明水环境在温度等方面所具有的时间异质性可能是镜湖萼花臂尾轮虫种群丰富的遗传变异得以维持的原因之一;自然选择出现在共存的克隆中,但其强度较低或作用时间较短是克隆共存的重要原因;遗传漂变可能在种群的基因型频率变化中起重要作用．不同基因型轮虫克隆的存在对其种群在水环境中的持续存在具有重要意义．     

眼优角蚱生活史及其生物学特性

通过对越冬的眼优角蚱Eucriotettix oculatus(Bolivar,1898)成虫进行饲养,研究了眼优角蚱的生活史和生物学特性。结果表明:眼优角蚱主要取食幼嫩苔藓及腐殖质;雄性若虫为5龄,雌性若虫为6龄,末龄若虫龄期最长;雌性羽化时间比雄性推迟6 d左右;通常羽化后9 d开始交尾,交尾持续1～1.5 h;交尾24 h后开始产卵,1次产卵持续1.5 h左右;每头成虫可交尾2～3次,每次产1块卵,每块卵30～60粒,卵块形状大小不同;非越冬卵发育期平均为13 d;雄性和雌性若虫期分别为31～53 d和39～62 d。     

Life history and genetic characterisation of sea trout Salmo trutta in the Adriatic Sea

1. The brown trout Salmo trutta is characterised by both anadromous (sea trout) and resident populations, naturally occurring in Atlantic and Ponto-Caspian rivers. Sea trout are currently considered absent from rivers of the Mediterranean area, probably because of the non-optimal chemical–physical characteristics of the Mediterranean Sea. However, the occasional bycatch of smoltified S. trutta in the Adriatic Sea is well known among fishermen and the biological explanation of this phenomenon is still controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the genetic diversity of freshwater and marine brown trout to try to understand the factors underlying the presence of putative anadromous brown trout in the Adriatic Sea.
2. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity of: (1) wild brown trout collected from the Esino River (central Italy); (2) a domestic strain of brown trout used for stocking the study area; and (3) a sample of Adriatic sea trout collected near the outlet of the Esino River. Together with genetic analysis, we carried out scale analysis in order to track the freshwater/marine stages of the life cycle in the sea trout samples. The genetic characterisation was carried out by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the mtDNA fragment ND-5/6 and the nuclear locus LDH-C1* and by genotyping 15 microsatellite loci. The genetic polymorphism obtained was used to investigate intra- and inter-population genetic diversity, rates of genetic introgression between wild and domestic samples and the origin of sea trout specimens by using assignment tests.
3. Our genetic analyses demonstrated that the sea trout analysed in this study are from the domestic strain of Atlantic origin used in central Italy for stocking activities. The level of genetic introgression between native and domestic samples is high in the Esino River. The populations more resilient to introgressive hybridisation appeared to be those living in the portion of the river network dominated by carbonate rocks. Assignment tests (GeneClass) suggest the existence of a link between stocking efforts and the freshwater origin of the sea trout. In addition, data obtained from the analysis of scales, size measurement, and sex determination showed a pattern of smolt age, size, and sex ratio very similar to those observed in other anadromous populations.
4. In conclusion, the present study highlighted that sea trout from the central Adriatic Sea originated from brown trout of Atlantic origin inhabiting the Esino River. Their seaward migratory behaviour could represent a consequence of an active migration instead of a passive displacement by water flow. Our results also showed that traditional stocking practices represent a negative activity for the conservation of the last Mediterranean native S. trutta populations.

     

Life history and habitat use of Norwegian brown trout (Salmo trutta)

SUMMARY. 1. Brown trout ( Salmo trutta) life history and habitat use were studied in two Norwegian rivers: the Vosso river system, western Norway, and the Søre Osa, eastern Norway.
2. Age-groups were partly segregated in feeding habitats, the youngest fish living mainly in running water and in the littoral zone of lakes, the older fish also exploiting pelagic waters and deeper epibenthic habitats. In a population with free access to and from the sea, some individuals smoltified and became sea-run migrants, performing yearly migrations to the coastal sea, whereas others stayed as freshwater residents throughout their entire life span.
3. Within local populations, females were larger and less variable in size than males. This was partly because females matured at an older age than males, partly because the sexes tended to exploit feeding habitats with different food and growth Conditions. Within age-groups, females were more pelagic and migrated more than males, whereas males were more confined to running water and epibenthic areas than females. In the pelagic zone, males were more abundant in near-surface water, and females more abundant in deeper areas. When exploiting the same feeding areas, the two sexes grew at the same rate. There therefore appears to be a connection between feeding habitat and the reproductive ecology of brown trout.     

Lake Erie Microcystis: Relationship between microcystin production, dynamics of genotypes and environmental parameters in a large lake

Cyanobacteria of genus Microcystis sp. have been commonly found in Lake Erie waters during recent summer seasons. In an effort to elucidate relationships between microcystin production, genotypic composition of Microcystis community and environmental parameters in a large lake ecosystem, we collected DNA samples and environmental data during a three-year (2003–2005) survey within Lake Erie and used the data to perform a series of correlation analyses. Cyanobacteria and Microcystis genotypes were quantified using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Our data show that Microcystis in Lake Erie forms up to 42% of all cyanobacteria, and that Microcystis exists as a mixed population of potentially toxic and (primarily) non-toxic genotypes. In the entire lake, the total abundance of Microcystis as well as the abundance of microcystin-producing Microcystis is strongly correlated with the abundance of cyanobacteria suggesting that Microcystis is a significant component of the cyanobacterial community in Lake Erie during summer seasons. The proportion of total Microcystis of all cyanobacteria was strongly linked to the microcystin concentrations, while the percentage of microcystin-producing genotypes within Microcystis population showed no correlation with microcystin concentrations. Correlation analysis indicated that increasing total phosphorus concentrations correlate strongly with increasing microcystin concentrations as well as with the total abundance of Microcystis and microcystin-producing Microcystis.     

Investigating genomic and phenotypic parallelism between piscivorous and planktivorous lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) ecotypes by means of RADseq and morphometrics analyses

Repeated adaptive ecological diversification has commonly been reported in fish and has often been associated with trophic niche diversity. The main goal of this study was to investigate the extent of parallelism in the genomic and phenotypic divergence between piscivorous and planktivorous lake trout ecotypes from Laurentian Shield lakes, Canada. This was achieved by documenting the extent of morphological differentiation using geometric morphometrics and linear measurements as well as the pattern of genomic divergence by means of RADseq genotyping (3925 filtered SNPs) in 12 lakes. Our results indicate that the two ecotypes evolved distinct body shape and several linear measurements in parallel. Neutral genetic differentiation was pronounced between all isolated populations (Mean F_ST = 0.433), indicating no or very limited migration and pronounced genetic drift. Significant genetic differentiation also suggested partial reproductive isolation between ecotypes in the two lakes where they are found in sympatry. Combining different outlier detection methods, we identified 48 SNPs putatively under divergent selection between ecotypes, among which 10 could be annotated and related to functions such as developmental processes and ionic regulation. Finally, our results indicate that parallel morphological divergence is accompanied by both parallel and nonparallel genomic divergence, which is associated with the use of different trophic niches between ecotypes. The results are also discussed in the context of management and conservation of this highly exploited species throughout northern North America.     

Allozymes,mtDNA and microsatellites study introgression in a stocked trout population in France

A comparative study of disturbed (downstream) and undisturbed (upstream) populations in a French Mediterranean river (the Sorgue) was conducted to assess the fate of introgressing hatchery-genes in the aboriginal gene pool. Variation was assessed at 27 protein-coding loci, three microsatellite loci and two mtDNA restriction sites. The results were compared to those from another Mediterranean drainage basin (that of the river Orb). The genetic pattern observed among markers and drainage basins was found to be noticeably different. A reduction in population size is hypothesized to explain the lower variability observed in the upper part of the river Sorgue. Estimations of hatchery gene flow were different between loci but in the same range of values between markers.