Influence of acclimation temperature and season on acute temperature preference of adult mountain whitefish, Prosopium williamsoni

Abstract

SynopsisTemperatures preferred by four groups of adult mountain whitefish, Prosopium williarnsoni, collected in October before spawning, in December after spawning, in late winter, and in spring were determined in the laboratory in a horizontal gradient. Acute temperature preference based on fish tested soon after capture and final preferendum estimates were 12.8 and 17.7"C, respectively (pre-spawning), 9.6 and 11.9"C (post-spawning), 10.8 and 9.9"C (win'ter), and 16.4 and 16.3"C (spring). Seasonal influence on temperature preference was evident on the basis of differences in final preferenda, covariance analysis of responses of laboratory-acclimated fish, and temperature preference of fish held at ambient river temperatures. Fish of the post-spawning and winter groups preferred lower temperatures than did those of pre-spawning and spring groups. Temperatures preferred by pre-spawning fish were too high for embryo survival. Caution is necessary in predicting thermal preference on the basis of a sample collected at one time of year or stage of sexual development.

Spatiotemporal patterns of mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) in response to a restoration of longitudinal connectivity

“…Another experiment exposing wild, subadult and adult mountain whitefish to different temperature regimes in the laboratory found their thermal preference ranged from 11.1 to 16.4°C when acclimated between 7 and 15°C (Ihnat & Bulkley, 1984). Partially supporting these experimental results, the large mountain whitefish we observed were rare in the warmer upstream reaches of CR8 through CR10 where maximum temperatures ranged from 16 to 19°C, while abundance peaked in the cooler reaches of CR3 through CR5 (maximum temperature ~14°C).…”

Patterns of fish species distributions replicated across three parallel rivers suggest biotic zonation in response to a longitudinal temperature gradient

“…Generally, the fish that comprise these different assemblages have experimentally determined temperature tolerances that are consistent with the thermal niches inferred in the present study. Within the regional pool of species in the SSRB, those with published mean temperature preferences below 15°C (cutthroat trout, bull trout, mountain whitefish, and longnose sucker; Vigg & Koch, ; Jobling, ; Cherry & Cairns, ; Ihnat & Bulkley, ; Eaton & Scheller, ; Dickerson & Vinyard, ; Beitinger et al., ; BC MELP ; Dunham et al., ; Huff, Hubler, & Borisenko, ) were all found in the coldest headwater regions of the SSRB. Species with published mean temperature preferences above 18°C (yellow perch, sauger, walleye, lake sturgeon, northern pike, emerald shiner, spottail shiner, quillback, white sucker; Scott & Crossman, ; Jobling, ; Cherry & Cairns, ; Kellogg & Gift, ; Cincotta & Stauffer, ; US EPA ; Eaton & Scheller, ; Beitinger et al., ; Lester, Dextrase, Kushneriuk, Rawson, & Ryan, ; Amadio, Hubert, Johnson, Oberlie, & Dufek, ; Benson, Sutton, Elliott, & Meronek, ; Amadio, Hubert, Johnson, Oberlie, & Dufek, ; Wilson & Nagler, ) were all found in the warm lowland regions of the SSRB.…”

“…Red lines in the right panels indicate the temperatures associated with high turnover in each river (see Figure 3). Green lines in the right panels depict the hierarchical clustering of sites based on the dissimilarity of species assemblages (longer distance between sites along the lines indicates greater dissimilarity) Jobling, 1981;Cherry & Cairns, 1982;Ihnat & Bulkley, 1984;Eaton & Scheller, 1996;Dickerson & Vinyard, 1999;Beitinger et al, 2000;BC MELP 2001;Dunham et al, 2003a;Huff, Hubler, & Borisenko, 2005) were all found in the coldest headwater regions of the SSRB. Species with published mean temperature preferences above 18°C (yellow perch, sauger, walleye, lake sturgeon, northern pike, emerald shiner, spottail shiner, quillback, white sucker; Scott & Crossman, 1979;Jobling, 1981;Cherry & Cairns, 1982;Kellogg & Gift, 1983;Cincotta & Stauffer, 1984;US EPA 1995;Eaton & Scheller, 1996;Beitinger et al, 2000;Lester, Dextrase, Kushneriuk, Rawson, & Ryan, 2004;Amadio, Hubert, Johnson, Oberlie, & Dufek, 2005;Benson, Sutton, Elliott, & Meronek, 2005;Amadio, Hubert, Johnson, Oberlie, & Dufek, 2006;Wilson & Nagler, 2006) were all found in the warm lowland regions of the SSRB.…”

Physiological stress response of Mountain Whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) and White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) sampled along a gradient of temperature and agrichemicals in the Oldman River, Alberta

“…Whitefish and suckers were sampled for this study because both species are present in the Oldman River and they have different species-specific temperature optima. Whitefish represent a cold-water fish species with a maximum temperature tolerance of 23.1°C (Eaton and Scheller 1996) and a thermal preference range between 12.8°C to 17.7°C [upper temperature preference (UTP)] (Ihnat and Bulkley 1984). Suckers represent a cool-water species with a maximum temperature tolerance of 27.4°C (Eaton and Scheller 1996) and a thermal preference range of 18.3°C to 24°C (UTP) (Eaton et al 1995).…”