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Effects of Two Sediment Size‐Classes on Survival of Steelhead and Chinook Salmon Eggs
Author(s) -
Reiser Dudley W.,
White Robert G.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1988)008<0432:eotssc>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - chinook wind , salmo , sediment , oncorhynchus , incubation , biology , fishery , rainbow trout , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , paleontology , biochemistry
We compared, in the laboratory, egg survival, and alevin and fry size of steelhead Oncorhyncus mykiss (formerly Salmo gairdneri ) and chinook salmon O. tshawytscha after incubations in 16 mixtures of two distinct size‐classes of sediment. Fine sediments were less than 0.84 mm in diameter, and coarse sediments were 0.84–4.6 mm in diameter. We incubated recently fertilized and eyed steelhead eggs and chinook salmon eggs in Whitlock–Vibert boxes placed in controlled‐flow channels. Egg survival in both sediment types was inversely related to the percentage of sediments within the incubation gravel; the poorest survival occurred in fine sediments. Percentage egg survival was positively related to intragravel water velocities, which ranged from 36 to 1,550 cm/h. No definitive relationship was found between sediment size and concentration, and alevin and fry quality. Overall, our results indicated that different sizes and mixtures of sediment can affect egg survival differently. The results confirmed that it is the smaller sediments (<0.84 mm) that are the most detrimental to incubating eggs.