The Pygmy Whitefish, Coregonus Coulteri, in Lake Superior

Bottom trawling by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service motor vessel Cisco in Lake Superior in 1952–1953 revealed a large population of a tiny whitefish, Coregonus (Prosopium) coulteri, which has been reported previously only from northwestern North America. The hiatus in range, from Lake Superior to the Columbia River basin, is the greatest known for a North American freshwater fish. Although minor structural differences characterize the disjunct populations of the pygmy whitefish, these are not deemed worthy of nomenclatorial recognition. Comparisons with related species indicate that the pygmy whitefish is distinctive in the small size, large scales, few vertebrae, few pyloric caeca, and in other characters.The pygmy whitefish is widely distributed in Lake Superior, especially in semi‐protected bays, such as Keweenaw Bay which yielded about 68 percent of the 1,623 specimens caught. The bathymetric range was 10 to 49 fathoms, with maximum abundance at the 25‐ to 39‐fathom interval. Average length of fish increased progressively with water depth, chiefly because the number of yearlings declined from 100 percent at 10–14 fathoms to none at 45–49 fathoms.The average total length of pygmy whitefish caught by trawling was 3.4 inches (range 1.2 to 5.7). Extraordinarily slow growth was revealed by the examination of scales. Two fish from Keweenaw Bay, both nearing the end of their eighth growing season, were only 5.4 inches long. Compared to Keweenaw Bay, growth rate was about the same near Laughing Fish Point, faster in the Apostle Islands (and in Bull and McDonald Lakes, Montana), and slower in Siskiwit Bay, Isle Royale. Females grew more rapidly than males after the second year and had a longer life span.All male pygmy whitefish were mature at the age of 2 years and a total length of 3.6 or more inches. Most females were mature at 3 years and 4.2 inches; all older females were mature. Mean egg production was 362 (range, 93 to 597) per fish and 26 per gram of total weight for fish from 3.4 to 5.9 inches long. Spawning in 1953 occurred sometime in November or December.Crustacea (principally ostracods and amphipods–copepods in the young) occurred in 106 of 112 pygmy whitefish stomachs and made up 77 percent of the total food volume. When available, fish eggs appear to be important in the diet.Other cold‐water fishes–cottids, ninespine sticklebacks, smelt, and four species of coregonines–were the most frequent associates of the pygmy whitefish. Lake trout and trout‐perch were also taken with it at the same stations or in the same trawl hauls. Its closest relative in Lake Superior, the round whitefish, was not an ecological associate.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141996/1/tafs0161.pd

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS OF THE U.S. BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE, 1928-72

This bibliography comprises publications in fishery and wildlife research authored or coauthored by research scientists of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and certain predecessor agencies. Separate lists, arranged alphabetically by author, are given for each of 17 fishery research and 6 wildlife research laboratories, stations, investigations, or centers. Publications coauthored by Bureau scientists from different research units are credited to the facility at which the senior author was stationed at the time of publication. Although the Federal Government has supported research on fish and wildlife since the late 1800\u27s, the relatively few works published in the early years are not directly identifiable with the existing or recent research units whose bibliographies are included here. Consequently the present lists, with three exceptions, are limited to the contributions of facilities that began operation in or after 1939, the year in which the Department of the Interior was given responsibility for fishery and wildlife research. The exceptions are the Great Lakes Fishery Laboratory (established in 1927), the Tunison Laboratory of Fish Nutrition (1932), and the Western Fish Disease Laboratory (1935)

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS OF THE U.S. BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE, 1928-72

This bibliography comprises publications in fishery and wildlife research authored or coauthored by research scientists of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and certain predecessor agencies. Separate lists, arranged alphabetically by author, are given for each of 17 fishery research and 6 wildlife research laboratories, stations, investigations, or centers. Publications coauthored by Bureau scientists from different research units are credited to the facility at which the senior author was stationed at the time of publication. Although the Federal Government has supported research on fish and wildlife since the late 1800\u27s, the relatively few works published in the early years are not directly identifiable with the existing or recent research units whose bibliographies are included here. Consequently the present lists, with three exceptions, are limited to the contributions of facilities that began operation in or after 1939, the year in which the Department of the Interior was given responsibility for fishery and wildlife research. The exceptions are the Great Lakes Fishery Laboratory (established in 1927), the Tunison Laboratory of Fish Nutrition (1932), and the Western Fish Disease Laboratory (1935)

Specimen collection: An essential tool

10.1126/science.344.6186.814Science3446186814-815SCIE