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Characterization of the OmyY1 region on the rainbow trout Y chromosome

We characterized the male-specific region on the Y chromosome of rainbow trout, which contains both sdY (the sex-determining gene) and the male-specific genetic marker, OmyY1. Several clones containing the OmyY1 marker were screened from a BAC library from a YY clonal line and found to be part of an 800 kb BAC contig. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), these clones were localized to the end of the short arm of the Y chromosome in rainbow trout, with an additional signal on the end of the X chromosome in many cells. We sequenced a minimum tiling path of these clones using Illumina and 454 pyrosequencing. The region is rich in transposons and rDNA, but also appears to contain several single-copy protein-coding genes. Most of these genes are also found on the X chromosome; and in several cases sex-specific SNPs in these genes were identified between the male (YY) and female (XX) homozygous clonal lines. Additional genes were identified by hybridization of the BACs to the cGRASP salmonid 4x44K oligo microarray. By BLASTn evaluations using hypothetical transcripts of OmyY1-linked candidate genes as query against several EST databases, we conclude at least 12 of these candidate genes are likely functional, and expressed.

International Journal of Genomics↗

Modeling regional occupancy of fishes using acoustic telemetry: A model comparison framework applied to lake trout

Acoustic telemetry is a common tool used in fisheries management to estimate fish space use (i.e., occupancy) from a local habitat scale to entire systems. Numerous analytical models have been developed to estimate different aspects of fish movement from telemetry datasets, yet evaluations of model performance and comparisons among models are limited. Here, we develop a framework to evaluate model estimates of regional occupancy in large and fragmented systems using an acoustic receiver array in Lake Champlain. We simulated the tracks of 100 acoustically tagged fish using a random walk function and created detection events based on receiver positions and distance-based detection probability. Regional occupancy for the simulated data was estimated by six movement models that ranged in analytical complexity, and results were compared to the true distributions for each simulated track to evaluate model error. The six movement models included: (1) a basic residency index using detections alone; (2) a residency index using last-observation-carried-forward; (3) a centers of activity model; (4) linear and non-linear interpolations (i.e., least-cost paths); and (5 and 6) two dynamic Brownian bridge movement models generated using separate packages in R. We developed a model selection process to compare model performance and select the optimal analysis based on simulation error. This process showed significant differences in model performance among the six movement models based on model error. Overall, the model generating least-cost paths using linear and non-linear interpolations consistently provided the most accurate regional occupancy estimates. Based on these simulation results, we applied this model to a case study that evaluated patterns in the regional distribution of stocked lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in Lake Champlain, which demonstrated distinct regional occupancy of two stocked lake trout groups. These results demonstrate potential for large variability in interpretation of acoustic telemetry data for describing regional fish distribution dependent on the analytical method used.

New York, Vermont↗

Upper thermal limits of growth in brook trout and their relationship to stress physiology

Despite the threat of climate change, the physiological mechanisms responsible for reduced performance at high temperatures remain unclear for most species. Elevated but sublethal temperatures may act via endocrine and cellular stress responses to limit performance in important life-history traits such as growth. Here, brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ) subjected to chronically elevated or daily oscillating temperatures were monitored for growth and physiological stress responses. Growth rate decreased at temperatures above 16°C and was negative at 24°C, with an estimated upper limit for positive growth of 23.4°C. Plasma cortisol increased with temperature and was 12- and 18-fold higher at 22 and 24°C, respectively, than at 16°C, whereas plasma glucose was unaffected by temperature. Abundance of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in the gill increased with temperature and was 11- and 56-fold higher at 22°C and 24°C, respectively, than at 16°C. There was no relationship between temperature and plasma Cl − , but there was a 53% and 80% decrease in gill Na + /K + -ATPase activity and abundance at 24°C in comparison with 16°C. Daily temperature oscillations of 4°C or 8°C (19–23°C or 17–25°C) were compared with 21°C controls. Growth rate decreased with temperature and was 43% and 35% lower by length and mass, respectively, in the 8°C daily oscillation treatment than in the controls. There was no effect of temperature oscillation on plasma cortisol or glucose levels. In contrast, gill HSP70 abundance increased with increasing daily oscillation and was 40- and 700-fold greater at 4°C and 8°C daily oscillation, respectively, than in the constant temperature controls. In individuals exposed to 17–25°C diel oscillations for 4 days and then allowed to recover at 21°C, gill HSP70 abundance was still elevated after 4 days recovery, but not after 10 days. Our results demonstrate that elevated temperatures induce cellular and endocrine stress responses and provide a possible mechanism by which growth is limited at elevated temperatures. Temperature limitations on growth may play a role in driving brook trout distributions in the wild.

Journal of Experimental Biology↗

Effects of rearing density on growth and survival of lake trout

Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were reared at density indices (allowable density in pounds/cubic foot divided by fish length in inches) of 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, and 2.0 in cages suspended in circular tanks. Water flow rates were such that dissolved oxygen remained above 8 ppm within all the cages. Thus treatment effects were attributed to density and not influenced by water quality. Growth and condition were not affected by density, but survival was lower at the higher density than at the three lower densities. We conclude that lake trout may be successfully reared at a density index of at least 1.0 if the water requirements for respiration and waste dilution are met.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Growth and survival of fingerling lake trout reared at four densities

Fingerling lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were reared at density indexes (fish density, in pounds per cubic foot, divided by fish length in inches) of 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, and 2.0. Final lengths, weights, condition factors, and mortality rates did not differ among the treatments. We conclude that fingerling lake trout may be successfully reared at a density index of at least 2.0 if water requirements for respiration and waste dilution are met. Our results indicate that fish length may be less important in determining allowable fish densities than was previously suspected.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Effect of rearing density on poststocking survival of lake trout in Lake Ontario

Six paired lots of yearling lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) reared at densities of 41,000 and 51,000 fish per raceway during their last 9 months in the hatchery were stocked in Lake Ontario. Poststocking survival of the high-density (HD) and low-density (LD) fish was not different for the 1982 year-class. However, for the 1983 year-class, mean survival was significantly different between HD and LD fish ( P < 0.01). Mean survival of HD fish was only 76% that of LD fish ( P < 0.01), and most of the mortality attributable to rearing conditions had apparently occurred within 2 months after stocking. Mean size at stocking was not different for HD and LD fish of the 1982 year-class, but for the 1983 year-class, the LD fish were 6% longer and 22% heavier than the HD fish. Mean lengths and weights of LD and HD fish were not different in samples collected in Lake Ontario at age 2 and older. Size at stocking was not likely the factor that caused the difference in survival. Rather, the rearing conditions (probably water exchange rate in relation to number of fish in the raceway) that resulted in slower growth of the HD fish of the 1983 year-class also caused them to be poorer physiologically than the LD fish. The number of yearling lake trout per rearing unit that will result in maximum contribution to populations in the Great Lakes after stocking may be lower than the rearing densities customarily used at some hatcheries.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Effect of feeding rate and gas supersaturation on survival and growth of lake trout

Fingerling lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) were reared for 35 d in water with total dissolved gas pressures of 46, 78, 108, or 159 mm Hg above ambient conditions (▵P). Within each gas pressure treatment, daily feeding rations were (1) 1.7% of the total weight offish in the heaviest of three replicates, (2) 1.7% of the weight of fish in each individual tank, or (3) 0.9% of the weight in each tank (underfeeding). Signs of gas bubble trauma were first observed as hemorrhagic spots on the eyes of some fish reared at ▵P = 46, and external evidence of trauma increased as ▵P increased. All fish sampled at ▵P = 159 showed signs of gas bubble disease; the most common were eye hemorrhage and bubble formation inside the mouth. Mortality was 11% or less among fish reared at gas levels up to ▵P = 108. Mortality was as high as 55% at ▵P = 159, but did not differ among feeding treatments. Net weight gain by fish was low at ▵P = 159 because of both high mortality and slow growth. Growth was slowest for underfed fish at all gas levels, and underfed fish consistently showed increasing injury as gas pressures increased. Calculation of feeding rate on the basis of fish weight in individual tanks allowed the most cost‐efficient food distribution. Culture of lake trout at ▵P < 46 is recommended.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Rapid classification of nuclear cataracts lake trout

To examine lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush ) in the field for cataract and noncataract eye abnormalities, we developed a procedure with a circular 1.7‐power illuminated magnifying lamp. A box in which the lamp is mounted facilitates its transport and provides a support base for the lamp during use in the field. A classification system was developed for assigning nuclear cataracts to four stages based on cataract size as a percentage of the total cross‐sectional area of the lens. When the method was used by newly trained technicians to screen 200,000 fall lake trout fingerlings into cataract and noncataract groups, the error rates were 1.7 and 7.7%, respectively. A technician could examine up to 2,800 fingerlings, 1,300 yearlings, or 700 3‐year‐old fish per day.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

A semiclosed recirculating water system for high-density culture of rainbow trout

Water recirculating systems for fish culture are potentially desirable for conserving water and reducing heating requirements, maximizing production of fish under water and space limitations, minimizing effluent problems, and maintaining better control over environmental factors. A semiclosed recirculating‐water system for intensive culture of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss is described. The system used self‐cleaning, rectangular, cross‐flow rearing tanks (water volume, 9 m 3 each), multistage oxygenators, microscreen filters, and a sidestreamed, fluidized‐bed biological filter. Rainbow trout were reared under continuous culture conditions, with periodic stocking and periodic selective harvesting. Makeup water entered at 47.3 L/min, producing a newwater turnover time of 9.2 h. Steady‐state and maximum fish biomass densities and loading rates were estimated to be 66.0 and 74.6 kg/m 3 and 2.50 and 2.83 kg·L –1 ·min –1 , respectively. Steady‐state gross productivity was estimated to be 6,257 kg/year (120 kg/week). Overall food conversion (feed fed/fish weight gained) was 1.33. The system performed satisfactorily and provided data for refining future designs. Subsequent modifications of equipment and operating procedures may have made the system economically viable under some pricing scenarios.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Effects of immobilization by electricity and MS-222 on brown trout broodstock and their progeny

To determine the effects of electrically and chemically induced immobilization on postspawn broodstock and their progeny, age‐2 and age‐3 female broodstock and age‐2 male broodstock of brown trout Salmo trutta were immobilized with electricity or tricaine methanesulfonate (MS‐222), stripped of their eggs or milt, and weighed. Eggs taken from electrically immobilized females were fertilized with milt taken from age‐2 males that were immobilized with electricity, and eggs taken from females immobilized with MS‐222 were fertilized with milt taken from age‐2 males that were immobilized with MS‐222. After spawning, the mortality and weight of broodstock were compared twice over a 6‐month period. Egg viability and growth of offspring fry from each treatment group were also compared. Electricity induced complete and consistent immobilization in brown trout broodstock. Electrically immobilized fish were more easily handled than fish immobilized with MS‐222; however, electrically immobilized fish survival (70%) was significantly less than fish immobilized with MS‐222 (83%). Broodstock growth differences were only noted at 6 months postexposure, when the mean weight of electrically immobilized fish was slightly less than the weight of fish immobilized with MS‐222. Broodstock immobilization by electricity did not reduce egg viability or fry growth.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Various sulfonamide treatments of furunculosis in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis

Sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, and sulfamerazine alternated at 4‐day intervals with sulfathiazole, were compared in the treatment of furunculosis among yearling and fingerling brook trout at the Leetown Station of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kearneysville, West Virginia, in 1947. The daily dosage rates were: for sulfamerazine and sulfamethazine, 6 grams per 100 pounds of fish (13.2 grams per 100 kilograms); for sulfathiazole, 12 grams per 100 pounds. The drugs were mixed thoroughly with the food. The courses of the epizootics were very different in the two age groups. With yearlings, mortalities were as follows: controls, 100 percent; sulfathiazole, 75 percent; sulfamethazine, 62 percent; sulfamerazine‐sulfathiazole, 43 percent; sulfamerazine, 29 percent. With fingerlings, treatment was initiated sooner after the onset of the disease. Although mortality was finally heavy in the fingerling control, sulfonamide therapy was very much more effective and losses correspondingly less severe. Mortalities were as follows: controls, 90 percent; sulfathiazole, 11 percent; sulfamerazine, 8 percent; sulfamerazine‐sulfathiazole, 6 percent; sulfamethazine, 5 percent. Sulfathiazole was markedly inferior to sulfamerazine. Sulfamethazine showed sufficient promise to warrant further trial. Sulfamerazine still seems the best for an acute infection and the drug most suitable for the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout. Important was the revelation of the extreme difference in the courses of the epizootics and the apparent correlation of effectiveness of treatment with the type of epizootic. However, prompt initiation of treatment may largely explain the great effectiveness of the various drugs with the fingerlings.

West Virginia↗

Some problems of private trout hatchery operators

Disease, nutritional, and environmental problems in commercial production of trout are discussed, including mortality and age of spawners, copepod and gyrodactylid infections, suitable water temperatures, diseases (especially red mouth and back peel) and inspection of fish. It is concluded that experiences with hatchery procedures have varied greatly and often the commercial trout producer must adjust methods to fit his particular needs and conditions.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Trout hepatoma--a preliminary report

Fish pathology and its role in fish culture were brought into prominence in the spring of 1960 by the disclosure of a high incidence of hepatomas in hatchery-reared rainbow trout. The current problem came to light as the result of a routine inspection of live trout shipments at a California border fish-disease checking station. This service is performed by personnel of the California Department of Fish and Game to preclude the introduction or further spread of communicable fish diseases into California watersheds. Collaborative studies which followed revealed the nationwide distribution of the disease. This unusual disease soon attracted the attention of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, the Food and Drug Administration, Public Health Service, and several western State health and conservation agencies.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗

Recoveries of tagged, hatchery-reared lake trout from Lake Superior

Plantings that totaled 13,384 tagged, hatchery-reared lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)&mdash;18, 25, 30, or 37 months old&mdash;were made at four Lake Superior localities in 1955-57 to: measure possible increases of return from rearing to greater size and age; study the effect of season of planting on the rate of return; compare returns from different types of tags; and follow the movements of hatchery-reared fish. The great advantage of spring over fall planting, demonstrated for fingerling lake trout in earlier experiments, did not hold for fish planted at ages of 18 to 37 months. The improvement of recovery rates with increase of age over the same 18- to 37-month interval appears to be too small to justify the cost of rearing to the higher ages. The recovery rates were closely similar (3.9 to 4.8 percent) for lower-jaw tags and two types of nylon-streamer tags but were much lower than the rate for Petersen tags (12.4 percent). The pins of Petersen tags render the fish highly vulnerable to entanglement in the webbing of gill nets, the principal gear in Lake Superior. Recoveries of Petersen tags also came earlier after planting than did those of other tags. The time between planting and recovery and the distance traveled by the fish were clearly but not closely correlated. Mean distance between points of planting and recovery increased with time out, and average time out increased with the number of miles traveled. More than half of the recoveries of fish that had been at liberty over 2 years were made within 25 miles of the point of release.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Experimental hexamitiasis in juvenile coho salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch ) and steelhead trout ( Salmo gairdner )

An exogenous strain of cultured Hexamita salmonis (Moore) was employed to induce trophic hexamitiasis in otherwise disease-free juveniles of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri). Mortality and growth were the parameters used to detect the effects of hexamitiasis on the two species. Two levels of each of the three experimental factors under study, Hexamita infection, species of fish, and density of fish, were arranged in a three-way factorial design. Replicate lots involved a total of 1,440 fish held under controlled laboratory conditions. Comparisons of growth and mortality indicate that infection with H. salmonis over a period of 8 weeks is innocuous to coho salmon. Steelhead trout suffered a low, but statistically significant mortality which subsided after the sixth week; growth rate was not affected.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Chemical composition of rainbow trout urine following acute hypoxic stress

Rainbow trout (Salmo gairdnerii) were anesthetized with MS-222, catheterized, and introduced into urine collecting chambers. Twenty-four hours after introduction, a 4-hour accumulation of urine was collected to serve as the control. Water flow to the chambers was then discontinued for 30 minutes during which the oxygen content of the water exiting in the chamber dropped from 4.9 to 2.8 mg/l. Following this hypoxic stress fresh water was restored and accumulated urine samples were taken for analysis at 1, 4, and 20 hours post-hypoxic stress. Rainbow trout excrete abnormally high concentrations of Na, K, Mg, Cl, and inorganic PO 4 following hypoxia.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Inhibition of salt water survival and Na-K-ATPase elevation in steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) by moderate water temperatures

The steelhead trout metamorphosis from a freshwater parr to a sea water-tolerant smolt possessing the migration tendency was evaluated at six different growth temperatures ranging from 6 to 15 C during January through July. The highest temperature where a transformation was indicated was 11.3 C. By April fish reared at 6 C had elevated ATPase levels typical of smolts or migratory animals and showed 92% survival in sea water. Ten and 11.3 C-reared fish showed a short-lived elevation in ATPase in mid-April alone concurrently with 100% sea water survival at that time. Only in 6 C-reared animals did the salt water survival ability continue into May. High ATPase levels likewise were prolonged into May and June only in the 6 C-reared group. The data indicate that metamorphosis (and therefore successful migration) of juvenile steelhead trout is directly controlled by water temperature.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗

Polychlorinated biphenyl (Aroclor (R) 1254) residues in rainbow trout: Effects on sensitivity to nine fishery chemicals

The influence of background polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) residues in rainbow trout ( Salmo gairdneri ) on the susceptibility of the fish to nine chemicals routinely or occasionally used in fishery operations was evaluated. Rainbow trout fry were divided into three groups: one was exposed to 0.01 ppb and another to 0.1 ppb of the PCB Aroclor (R) 1254; the third (control) group was unexposed. After 30 days of exposure, whole body residues were 0.28 and 2.31 ppm for fish exposed to 0.01 and 0.1 ppb, respectively; control fish had residue concentrations of 0.04 ppm. Acute toxicity tests showed that both groups of exposed fish were more sensitive to rotenone and 2,4-D. Exposure did not significantly affect sensitivity to 2-[digeranylamino]-ethanol (GD-174), 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM), nifurpirinol (Furanace), tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222), or copper sulfate. Fishery managers should be aware that sensitivity of fish to control chemicals may be altered by the presence of contaminants in the water or residues of contaminants in the fish.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗