Life History of Two Isolated Populations of Arctic Char ( Salvelinus alpinus ) in Spring-Fed Tributaries of the Canning River, Alaska

Two isolated populations of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in spring-fed tributaries of the Canning River, Alaska, had meristic characters that corresponded to those of the Western Arctic–Bering Sea form of Arctic char. The two populations demonstrated slight differences in growth rates, age at ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
Main Authors: McCart, P., Craig, P.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1973
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f73-192
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f73-192
Description
Summary:Two isolated populations of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in spring-fed tributaries of the Canning River, Alaska, had meristic characters that corresponded to those of the Western Arctic–Bering Sea form of Arctic char. The two populations demonstrated slight differences in growth rates, age at maturity, longevity, and food habits. The fish were characterized by small size (maximum 235 mm), low growth rates, low fecundities (maximum 199 eggs), and annual spawning after maturity. Mature fish were darkly pigmented and parr marks were retained throughout life. The spawning season appeared to be sometime in November, when the eggs of mature females averaged 3.8 mm in diameter.