Comparison of structures used to estimate age and growth of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: Publisher Index Page
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Understanding age and growth of fishes is critical for making meaningful management decisions. Obtaining useful information is dependent on using the best structure (e.g., scale, otolith). The objective of this study was to evaluate precision and reader confidence in age estimates from sagittal otoliths (i.e., whole, sectioned) and scales for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri collected from Henrys Lake, Idaho. We also sought to compare growth estimates among structures sampled during annual gill net surveys in May 2019 and 2020. We removed sagittal otoliths and scales from 416 Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Two readers without prior knowledge of fish length independently aged scales, whole otoliths, and sectioned otoliths. Each reader also provided a confidence rating of 0 (not confident) to 3 (completely confident). Percent exact agreement between readers was highest for sectioned otoliths (85.3%), followed by scales (68.5%) and whole otoliths (66.1%). Average confidence rating was highest for sectioned (mean ± SD = 2.2 ± 0.6) and whole (1.4 ± 0.5) otoliths and lowest for scales (1.0 ± 0.2). Among structures, percent exact agreement (i.e., consensus age) was highest between whole and sectioned otoliths (66.7%), followed by scales and sectioned otoliths (58.9%). Exact agreement was lowest between scales and whole otoliths (51.2%). Differences in back-calculated length at age estimates between sectioned otoliths and scales were minimal, particularly for ages 1–4. Although sectioned otoliths required more time to prepare than scales or whole otoliths, sectioned otoliths produced the most precise age estimates for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, with the highest reader confidence.
Publication type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Title | Comparison of structures used to estimate age and growth of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout |
Series title | Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management |
DOI | 10.3996/JFWM-21-095 |
Volume | 13 |
Issue | 2 |
Year Published | 2022 |
Language | English |
Publisher | Allen Press |
Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Seattle |
Description | 8 p. |
First page | 544 |
Last page | 551 |
Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |