Trophic Analysis of Juvenile Pink and Chum Salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and O . keta ) in Puget Sound

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Authors: Kaczynski, V. W., Feller, R. J., Clayton, J., Gerke, R. J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1973
• Subjects: General Medicine; Keta; Oncorhynchus gorbuscha; Pink salmon; Copepods
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f73-164; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f73-164

Pink and chum salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and O. keta) fry and Clarke–Bumpus plankton tows were collected from three beach areas in Puget Sound in spring 1970. Chum fry and benthic pump samples were taken in 1971. The diets of the young of the two species were similar. Epibenthic harpacticoid copepods were the chief prey of the chum and pink salmon (57 and 36%, respectively, in 1970). Distinct differences were apparent, the more notable being the preference for invertebrate eggs exhibited by the pinks and the higher preferences for small gammarid amphipods and harpacticoids exhibited by the chums. The stomach contents showed no resemblance to the plankton hauls taken in the same area. The onshore stage of development appears to be a distinct ecological stage in the life cycles of these species.