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Habitat utilization by sympatric arctic charr {Salvelinus atpinus (L.)) and brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in Lake Atnsj0, south-east Norway SUMMARY. 1, Habitat utilization, as well as inter-and intraspeeific relations of different size groups of aretie charr (Salvelituis alpimts (L.)) and brown trout {Stilmo tnitta L.) in Lake Atnsjo. south-east Norway, were investigated by analysing food and spatial niches from monthly benthic and pelagic gillnet catches during June-October 1985, 2. Small individuals (150-230 mm) of both arctic charr and brown trout occurred in shallow benthic habitats. However, they were spatially segregated as arctic charr dominated at depths of 5-15 m and brown trout at depths of 0-5 m.3. Larger (>23() mm) arctic charr and brown trout coexisted in the pelagic zone. Both species occurred mainly in the uppermost 2-3 m of the pelagic, except in August, when arctic charr occurred at high densities throughout the 0-12 m depth interval. On this occasion, arctic charr were segregated in depth according to size, with significantly larger fish in the top 6 m. This was probably due to increased intraspeeific competition for food.4. The two species differed in food choice in both habitats, Arctic charr fed almost exclusively on zooplankton. whereas brown trout hud a more variable diet, consisting of surface insects, zooplankton, aquatic insects and fish.5. The data suggest that the uppermost pelagic was the more favourable habitat for both species. Large individuals having high soeial position occupied this habitat, whereas small individuals lived in benthic habitat where they were less vulnerable to agonistic behaviour from larger individuals and less exposed to predators. The more aggressive and dominant brown trout occupied the more rewardingpart of the benthic habitat.

Growth, mortality, moulting rate and cheliped loss were examined in aquaculture experiments with noble crayfish, Astacus astacus L., juveniles from four different Norwegian populations in the period September 1987‐June 1988. The juveniles were hatched indoors in May 1987 from parents wild‐caught in 1986. The experiments were performed at 18‐19°C in communal rearing units. Mean total length at experiment start was about 20mm in all groups. There were no significant differences in mean size (final mean total length: 32‐2‐34‐8mm). mortality (83a‐900%) or cheliped loss (429‐700%) among juveniles from the different populations when exposed to similar conditions (food: dry pellets; photoperiod: L:D = 8:16). Among crayfish fed fish and potatoes in addition to dry pellets, and with continuous light conditions, mortality was reduced significantly to about 70%. Continuous light conditions significantly increased mean size (final mean length: 36‐1‐389mm). Moulting occurred from November throughout the experiment period. Moulting rate was positively correlated to mortality and growth rate (i.e. mean length increase). A positive correlation between mortality and cheliped loss, along with direct observations of cannibalism, indicated that agonistic behaviour and cannibalism were the dominating mortality factors. It is suggested that continuous light conditions reduce agonistic behaviour and thereby decrease mortality.

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Increased water discharge during spring floods gives the primary cue for the start of hatching and drift of European vendace (Coregonus albula) and whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) in the Norwegian River Lâgen. The drift increased with water flow for discharges between 50 and 850 m3∙s−1 (vendace: R2 = 0.91; whitefish: R2 = 0.77). The length of hatching period, as judged from the drift, was negatively correlated with the increase in water discharge (vendace: R2 = 0.73; whitefish: R2 = 0.68). The length of the egg incubation period and time of hatching were not significantly correlated with the ambient water temperature. Two artificial floods (220 m3∙s−1), released before normal spring flooding, increased the total number of drifting Coregoninae larvae in the river. The first flood increased the number of vendace and whitefish larvae per second from 2.1 and 0.0 to 86.1 and 4.5, respectively, before returning to preflood levels. The second flood gave 18.9 and 1.8 individuals/s.

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Patterns of die1 food selection in pelagic Arctic charr, Saluelims alpinus (L.) and brown trout, Salmo trutta L. were investigated in Lake Atnsjs, SE Norway, by gillnet sampling during JulySeptember 1985. Arctic charr feed almost exclusively on zooplankton both day and night, while brown trout had a diurnal shift in diet. For this species zooplankton made up a considerable part of the diet in the daytime, while at night the diet consisted mainly of surface insect and chironomid pupae. Both species had a selective feeding mode on zooplankton during the day and night. Arctic charr had a higher gill raker number and a denser gill raker spacing compared with brown trout. Still, the differences in prey size between the two species were small. We argue that the observed differences in food selection between Arctic charr and brown trout can be explained by differing abilities to detect food items under low light conditions.