Dietary Calcein Marking of Brook Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Yellow Perch, and Coho Salmon Scales

• Published in: North American Journal of Fisheries Management
• Main Authors: Honeyfield, Dale C., Ostrowski, Christian S., Fletcher, John W., Mohler, Jerre W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2006
• Subjects: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Ecology; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Atlantic salmon; Salmo salar
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1577/m05-107.1; https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1577/M05-107.1

Abstract Brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, and yellow perch Perca flavescens fed calcein for 5 d showed characteristic calcein scale marks 7–10 d postmarking. In fish fed 0.75 or 1.25 g of calcein per kilogram of feed, the percentage of fish that exhibited a calcein mark was 100% in brook trout, 93–98% in Atlantic salmon, 60% in yellow perch, and 0% in coho salmon. However, when coho salmon were fed 5.25 g calcein/kg feed, 100% marking was observed 7–10 d postmarking. Brook trout were successfully marked twice with distinct bands when fed calcein 5 months apart. Brook trout scale pixel luminosity increased as dietary calcein increased in experiment 2. For the second calcein mark, scale pixel luminosity from brook trout fed 1.25 g calcein/kg feed was numerically higher ( P < 0.08) than scales from fish fed 0.75 g calcein/kg feed. Mean pixel luminosity of calcein‐marked Atlantic salmon scales was 57.7 for fish fed 0.75 g calcein/kg feed and 55.2 for fish fed 1.25 g calcein/kg feed. Although feed acceptance presented a problem in yellow perch, these experiments provide evidence that dietary calcein is a viable tool for marking fish for stock identification.