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The Length and Growth of 0‐Year Class Creek Chubs in Relation to Domestic Pollution
Author(s) -
Katz Max,
Howard W. Charles
Publication year - 1955
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1954)84[228:tlagoy]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - minnow , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , environmental science , pollution , zoology , hydrology (agriculture) , biology , ecology , geology , geotechnical engineering
The lengths of creek chubs, Semotilus a. atromaculatus, of the same year class differ significantly in the various pollutional zones of Lytle Creek, Clinton County, Ohio. In the clean‐water zone above a sewage treatment plant outfall, where the stream is very small, the 0‐year creek chub taken in August 1952 averaged 42.3 millimeters in total length. The creek chubs of the same year class, found in the upper portion of the recovery zone, averaged 53.3 millimeters, while in the enriched lower portion of the recovery zone they were larger, averaging 63.8 millimeters. In the lower clean‐water zone, the fish were smaller and had a mean length of 52.0 millimeters. In the upper recovery zone, the creek chubs apparently did not survive the winter season. Despite a considerable minnow fishery, significant numbers of 1‐year‐old or older fish were present in the upper clean‐water zone, lower recovery zone, and lower clean‐water zone. Growth was rapid in the upper recovery zone during the early summer, but slowed down markedly by the end of the summer, while growth at the other stations remained rapid into the early fall. Growth could not be correlated with the volume of bottom organisms found at the various stations. The consistent difference in the size of creek chub at the various stations indicates that these fish do not migrate in search of optimum conditions.