Dispersion of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar) fry from competing families as revealed by DNA profiling

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• Main Authors: Webb, J H, Fryer, R J, Taggart, J B, Thompson, C E, Youngson, A F
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2001
• Subjects: Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f01-177; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f01-177

Minisatellite-based DNA profiling was used to investigate the dispersion of synchronously spawned families of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fry from artificial nests in a natural stream. By the end of the summer, i.e., 17 weeks after hatching, detected dispersion was mainly downstream and less than 1 km. Within this distance, three families that had been stocked together showed different patterns of dispersion, with the relative abundance of each family changing systematically with distance downstream from the nest, but with no monopolization of any area or habitat type by any one family. The length of fry also changed systematically with distance downstream, with the patterns of change depending on family. For each family, fry were larger closer to the nest. Changes in habitat type had a common effect on the density and length of fry from all the families.