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Diversity in sympatric chinook salmon runs: timing, relative fat content and maturation

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Abstract

Since salmon species commonly undertake long spawning migrations and often have multiple runs in the same river system, this study explored the run timing and physiology of sympatric Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha stocks in the Klamath River Basin, CA. Genetic methods revealed that the Trinity-Salmon Spring run entered first, followed by the Klamath Fall run, and the Lower Basin Fall run. The Trinity-Salmon Fall run entered continuously. There was however, considerable overlap in run timing which was thought may be due a morphological threshold being met. Due to longer off-feeding freshwater residency, the earlier-returning fish have higher metabolic demands during their spawning migration and enter freshwater with greater relative fat reserves, estimated by non-water fraction of liver tissue (NWF) and Relative Weight (Wr). They also arrive less mature (as estimated by gonadosomatic index (GSI), which also places a greater demand on their energy reserves for gonadal development. There was a decrease in relative fat reserves and an increase in maturity by freshwater entry date. At spawning however, the Trinity River Hatchery spring- and fall-run fish, after travelling the same distance, had the same relative fat content and size-specific gonad mass and fecundity. The higher energetic cost associated with the early entry of the spring-run fish, and reduced at-sea feeding period, may be the cause for their smaller average body mass. This study suggests that imminent freshwater residency duration is important in determining the relative fat content, maturity leveland size of returning Chinook salmon.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for approving the use of animal subjects in this study (IACUC #08/09. F.74.E, approval date 4/22/09). We thank the Hoopa Valley Tribe (Hoopa, CA) for funding this research, and the Yurok Tribe (Klamath, CA) for access to their native fishery. We thank CA Fish and Game and the Trinity River Hatchery (Lewiston, CA) for samples and data. We also thank R. Records for GIS support; R. Parker, C. Watkins and D. Hernandez for field assistance and M. Hellmair for software and genetics lab help. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for editorial suggestions. J. W. Hearsey particularly wishes to thank S. Hearsey and R. Hearsey for their kind and continual support for this and other projects.

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  1. Humboldt State University, 1 Harpst St., Arcata, CA, 95521, USA

    James W. Hearsey & Andrew P. Kinziger

  2. 19828 10th Pl. NW, Shoreline, WA, 98177, USA

    James W. Hearsey

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  1. James W. Hearsey
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Correspondence to James W. Hearsey.

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Hearsey, J.W., Kinziger, A.P. Diversity in sympatric chinook salmon runs: timing, relative fat content and maturation. Environ Biol Fish 98, 413–423 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0272-5

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