Egg thiamine status of Lake Ontario salmonines 1995-2004 with emphasis on lake trout

J.D. Fitzsimons; B. Williston; G. Williston; L. Brown; A. El-Shaarawi; L. Vandenbyllaardt; D. Honeyfeld; D. Tillitt; M. Wolgamood; S.B. Brown

doi:10.3394/0380-1330(2007)33[93:etsolo]2.0.co;2

USGS · 70030045

Egg thiamine status of Lake Ontario salmonines 1995-2004 with emphasis on lake trout

J.D. Fitzsimons·B. Williston·G. Williston·L. Brown·A. El-Shaarawi·L. Vandenbyllaardt·D. Honeyfeld·D. Tillitt·M. Wolgamood·S.B. Brown

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), the major prey fish for Lake Ontario, contain thiaminase. They are associated with development of a thiamine deficiency in salmonines which greatly increases the potential for developing an early mortality syndrome (EMS). To assess the possible effects of thiamine deficiency on salmonine reproduction we measured egg thiamine concentrations for five species of Lake Ontario salmonines. From this we estimated the proportion of families susceptible to EMS based on whether they were below the ED20, the egg thiamine concentration associated with 20% mortality due to EMS. The ED20s were 1.52, 2.63, and 2.99 nmol/g egg for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), respectively. Based on the proportion of fish having egg thiamine concentrations falling below the ED20, the risk of developing EMS in Lake Ontario was highest for lake trout, followed by coho (O. kisutch), and Chinook salmon, with the least risk for rainbow trout (O. mykiss). For lake trout from western Lake Ontario, mean egg thiamine concentration showed significant annual variability during 1994 to 2003, when the proportion of lake trout at risk of developing EMS based on ED20 ranged between 77 and 100%. Variation in the annual mean egg thiamine concentration for western Lake Ontario lake trout was positively related (p < 0.001, r2 = 0.94) with indices of annual adult alewife biomass. While suggesting the possible involvement of density-dependent changes in alewives, the changes are small relative to egg thiamine concentrations when alewife are not part of the diet and are of insufficient magnitude to allow for natural reproduction by lake trout.

Explore related subjects

Journal of Great Lakes Research Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

J.D. Fitzsimons, B. Williston, G. Williston, L. Brown, A. El-Shaarawi, L. Vandenbyllaardt, D. Honeyfeld, D. Tillitt, M. Wolgamood, S.B. Brown. 2007. Egg thiamine status of Lake Ontario salmonines 1995-2004 with emphasis on lake trout. https://doi.org/10.3394/0380-1330(2007)33%5B93%3Aetsolo%5D2.0.co%3B2

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Application of novel encounter and predation models to the natural behavior of slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus

Sculpins play a critical mid-trophic role in lacustrine food webs, converting production by benthic and migrating pelagic invertebrates into biomass available to higher trophic levels. Although sculpin diets and habitat choices are relatively well described, much less is known about their in situ behavior which governs trophic interactions and, in part, prey behavior. We measured the natural behavior of slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus in Lake Champlain using video data originally collected to quantify Mysis diluviana abundance in benthic habitat. After characterizing slimy sculpin movement behaviors according to body size, we incorporated these data into encounter and predation rate models at the individual and population levels, the latter based on bottom trawl data from Lake Champlain. Saltatory movement varied with body length in terms of distance traveled, duration traveled, and duration at rest, but strike distances at prey did not vary across individual sculpins. Slimy sculpin predation rate increased with depth and was limited by pursuit time rather than prey availability, and their populations exerted predation rates on Mysis up to 5 predation events/m 2 /day. Assessment of benthic predation risks affords the opportunity to test hypotheses about the role of predation risk in Mysis diel vertical migration (DVM), and DVM more broadly. Furthermore, the methods we describe here can easily be employed for other benthic fishes such as the invasive round goby Neogobius melanostomus .

New York, Vermont↗

USGS2026

Thermal habitat use of lake trout in Lake Erie

Understanding the thermal habitat use of fish populations is vital for effective rehabilitation or management, particularly in the face of climate change, given limited thermal tolerances of some species. In Lake Erie, lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) rehabilitation efforts by means of stocking have been ongoing for four decades. However, high water temperatures and lengthening periods of stratification may be hindering reestablishment efforts by contributing to unfavorable conditions for spawning and natural recruitment. We used acoustic telemetry to quantify weekly temperature occupancy of adult lake trout in Lake Erie and evaluated whether temperature occupancy differed relative to fish total length and sex. We found that lake trout occupied water temperatures similar to temperatures occupied by other Great Lakes lake trout populations during summer stratification. During fall, lake trout in Lake Erie occupied warmer temperatures than Lake Huron populations but similar temperatures to Lake Ontario populations. Occupied temperatures decreased with increasing body size during a 7-week period of mid- to late-summer stratification, but not during early summer or fall. Male and female lake trout did not differ in weekly temperature occupancy during any season. These findings reveal similarities with successfully reproducing populations, which suggest that adult temperature occupancy is unlikely to be a major impediment to natural recruitment in Lake Erie.

Lake Erie↗

USGS2026

Documentation of giant floater (Pyganodon grandis) glochidia attached to larval lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Native freshwater mussels (family Unionidae) are in decline globally, including in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Glochidia, the parasitic larvae of unionid mussels, typically attach to sub-adult and adult fishes. Attachment of glochidia to larval fishes is more rare, and a lack of documentation exists on glochidial attachment on fish in the Great Lakes in general. We document the attachment of four glochidia to three larval lake whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis ) in shallow waters of Lake Superior, and we genetically identified the glochidia as giant floater ( Pyganodon grandis ). We only observed glochidia at 3% of all sites sampled on ∼0.02% of all fish (∼15,000) collected across lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. Although glochidial encystment on larval lake whitefish may be rare, it may also be difficult to detect with conventional sampling methods. Regardless, the association could have important implications for the ecology and conservation of both unionids and coregonines in the ever-changing Great Lakes.

Michigan, Ontario, Wisconsin↗