Daily rings in otoliths of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and their relationship to growth

• Main Author: Wilson, Kenneth H.
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Sockeye salmon; Fishes > Growth; Otoliths; Salmon; Saccule and Utricle
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22690

This study reports the occurrence of daily rings in the otoliths of Oncorhynchus nerka fry and examines their relationship to growth. In experiment 1, sockeye salmon fry were collected from the Fulton River spawning channel at Babine Lake, British Columbia in May 1978. The fish were reared for 26 days in enclosures in the spawning channel and were sampled every seven to ten days. Sagittae were removed from 25 fish from each sample, and the growth rings in one otolith from each fish were counted. A regression of the number of rings on the number of days since capture showed that these rings are, on average, formed daily, beginning at the time of emergence. A number of possible technical and biological causes of variation in ring counts within and between samples are considered. In Experiment 2, sockeye salmon fry were reared in the laboratory from fertilized eggs taken in the fall of 1978 at the Weaver Creek spawning channel near Mission, British Columbia. A random sample of 64 of these fry was marked to enable identification of individuals. Each individual was weighed initially on June 6 or 8, again on July 6, and surviving fish were weighed a third time on July 20. After a final weighing, sagittae were removed and a standard otolith radius was determined by counting back the appropriate number of daily rings which corresponded to each weight. The regression of £n otolith radius on £n fish weight was linear, and had an R2 of 0.92, which demonstrates a relationship between the mean width of a daily ring in sockeye salmon fry sagittae, and a mean daily change in the weight of the fry. Using this regression line, we back-calculated the previous weight of the individual fish from the corresponding otolith radius and a latter fish weight and otolith radius and found the errors to be relatively small — in the order of 15 per cent. === Science, Faculty of === Zoology, Department of === Graduate