Age and growth of a native, lightly exploited population of Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) in a small natural lake in Maine
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Abstract
We assessed annual growth of Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) from a natural, lightly exploited population in a small lake in northern Maine using observed and back-calculated length-at-age data. We sampled Lake Whitefish from Clear Lake, ME, with gill nets and extracted otoliths from 57 fish. We incorporated age-at-length data into a von Bertalanffy growth function, which we employed to model growth trajectories from individual fish. We used these estimates to evaluate length-at-age variability within this population. Ages for Lake Whitefish varied from 8 y to 30 y. Among all fish, we characterized incremental growth by an average-growth coefficient of K = 0.156 and an estimated L∞ of 484 mm. The oldest individuals demonstrated the slowest incremental growth (K = 0.106) when compared to younger cohorts (K = 0.218). We observed an inverse relationship between L∞ and K and the estimated age-at-capture (R2 = 0.178 and 0.723, respectively), which suggests relatively slow growth and a smaller maximum size for the longest living members of the population. Our estimated parameters serve as a reference to inform management of populations of Lake Whitefish.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Age and growth of a native, lightly exploited population of Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) in a small natural lake in Maine |
| Series title | Northeastern Naturalist |
| DOI | 10.1656/045.025.0406 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Year Published | 2018 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Humboldt Field Research Institute; Eagle Hill Institute |
| Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Leetown |
| Description | 12 p. |
| First page | 599 |
| Last page | 610 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maine |
| Other Geospatial | Clear Lake |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |