Premium
Identification of Hatchery‐Reared Channel Catfish by Means of Pectoral Spine Cross Sections
Author(s) -
Siegwarth Gary L.
Publication year - 1994
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(1994)123<0830:iohrcc>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - catfish , ictalurus , hatchery , fishery , stocking , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , annulus (botany) , zoology , botany
Cross sections of pectoral spines were used to identify hatchery‐reared and wild channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in the Buffalo River, Arkansas. Stocked, catchable‐size catfish could be identified by wide growth increments between the first and second annuli (corresponding to rapid hatchery growth) followed by narrow annual increments beyond age 2 (corresponding to slower posthatchery growth). For stocked fish, the mean width between the first and second annulus of the spine section was 3.4 times wider than the mean width between the second and third annulus. In wild fish these widths were not significantly different. This growth pattern for stocked fish was verified by using pectoral spines obtained from marked hatchery fish stocked in 1990 and 1991, and by comparing back‐calculated lengths of suspected hatchery fish at age 2 with the length at stocking. By the use of this method, it was determined that previously stocked catfish accounted for more than 92% of the catfish sampled in the Buffalo River. This technique should be applicable in other regions if catchable‐size channel catfish are being used in stocking programs and if the growth rate for hatchery fish exceeds that of wild fish.