Bailey, Jack E.

Rice, Stanley D.

English

Aquatic Commons

AMMONIA CONCENTRATIONS IN PINK
SALMON, ONCORHYNCHUS GORBUSCHA,
REDDS OF SASHIN CREEK,
SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
Althoughthetoxiceffectsofammoniahavebeen
observedin developingsalmonidsin hatcheries,
fewmeasurementsofammoniaareavailablefrom
thenatural environment.In the fall of1969,am-
monia levels in the surface waters of Sashin
Creek, southern Baranof Island, southeastern
Alaska,weremeasuredduringandaftertherun of
pinksalmon,Oncorhynchusgorbuscha.Ammonia
levelsincreasedsignificantlyafter the run. This
increasewas attributedto the large numberof
decayingcarcassesof spawned-outadult salmon
(Brickell and Goering1972).Low levelsof am-
moniacalnitrogenhavebeenfoundin samplesof
intragravelwatersof Sashin Creektakenin Au-
gust,just beforemostfish spawned(McNeil etal.
1964).Ammonia concentrationshave not been
measuredin intragravelwatertakendirectlyfrom
salmonreddswith knowndensitiesofeggsorale-
V1ns.
The transition periodjust beforeand during
emergenceofalevinsfromthegravelis criticalfor
survivalofyoungsalmon.Theyoungsalmonhave
a higher rateof metabolismthan eggsandearly
alevins (Bailey et al. 1980)and are undergoing
physiologicalchangesto enablethemto actively
swim and feedrather than residequietly in the
gravel.Salmonidalevinsnearingtheendofyolk
absorptionexcreteammoniaat ahigherratethan
eggsorearlyalevins(RiceandStokes1975;Bailey
et al. 1980)and are moresensitiveto ammonia
than earlierstages(Penaz1965;Riceand Stokes
1975;Rice and Bailey 1980).At the sametime
(winter and spring), freezing weather usually
causessurfaceand intragravelwaterflowsto be
low andthusreducestheremovalrateofexcreted
ammonia.In 1972wemeasuredammoniain sam-
plesofintragravelwatertakenfromrandomsites
in SashinCreek,includingpinksalmonredds,and
measured ensitiesofliveanddeadalevinsateach
samplesite.In thispaperwereporttheconcentra-
tions of total ammonia(un-ionizedand ionized)
foundin streamandintragravelwateranddiscuss
theeffectofammoniaconcentrationson develop-
ing alevins.
Methods
In late March we sampled60 randomintra-
FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78,NO.3, 1980.
gravelsitesand4typicalsurfacesites.Waterflow
in Sashin Creek was low,which was normal for
lateMarch-the rainy seasonhadnotbegunand
thewintersnowwasnotmelting.Thewatertem-
peraturewas 1.6°C andpH was6.7.Samplesof
intragravel water were taken from standpipes
(McNeil 1962;McNeil et al. 1964).Watersamples
werefrozenin glassbottleswithin 2h ofsampling
andkeptfrozenuntil analyzedwithin 3d.
Wedeterminedconcentrationsoftotalammonia
(NHa +NH4 +)using an automatedmethodthat
quantitatesthe intensityofblueindophenolafter
reactionof ammoniawith alkaline phenolhypo-
chlorite (U.S. EnvironmentalProtectionAgency
[EPA] 1974).The EPA methodwas modifiedby
stabilizingtheheatsourceduringthereactionto
increasesensitivity to a detectionlimit of 0.004
ppm ammonia.Analyses were madeon freshly
thawedwater samples.Somesamplesand stan-
dardsofknownconcentrationweremeasured,fro-
zen, and thawed a second time, and again
measured.The ammonialevelsdid not change,
indicating that our preserving technique was
adequate.TheslightlyacidwaterofSashin Creek
aidedin theretentionofammonia.
Thedensityofeggsandalevinswasmeasuredat
eachsitewithin 2h ofsamplingforammonia.We
sampled an area of 0.1m2, centered on the
standpipesite,withahydraulicegg-pump(McNeil
1964),and counteddeadeggs,live eggs,andale-
V1ns.
Concentrationsof Ammoniain
IntragravelWaterand its Implications
Concentrationsof ammonia and densities of
eggsandalevinsvariedwidely.Totalammoniain
intragravel waters rangedfrom 0.008to 0.240
ppm,anddensityof live eggsandalevinsranged
from0 to 352/0.1m2 (average21.2)(Table1).The
densitiesofpink salmoneggsandalevinsfoundin
Sashin Creek were typical of many streamsin
southeasternAlaska1.
The concentrationsofammoniawerenotcorre-
lated with location in the stream (r = -0.18,
P>0.05 for ammoniaconcentrationsmeasuredin
lThe averagedensitiesof pink salmonalevinsfor 96 pink
salmonstreamsofsoutheasternAlaska,1966-1974,variedfrom
<1to 30alevins/0.1m2 (Kingsbury,A., P.Larson,andG. Dow-
ney. 1975. Forecastofthe1975pink salmonreturnstosouth-
easternAlaska. Alaska Dep.Fish Game,Inform.Leafl.168,
33p., on file at Nor~hwestandAlaska Fish. Cent.,Auke Bay
Lab.,Natl.Mar.Fish.Serv.,NOAA, P.O.Box155,AukeBay,AK
99821).
809
TABLE I.-Density ofsalmoneggsandalevins,andconcentra-
tionofammoniain intragravelwatersofSashinCreek,south-
easternAlaska.Pink salmoneggsoralevinspredominated,al-
thougha fewcohosalmon,Oncorhynchuskisutch, eggs,<100/0,
wereoccasionallypresentatthesamplesitesandareincludedin
thetotals.Foursurfacesampleswerealsomeasured,ranging
from0.005to0.019ppmtotalammonia(average0.013ppm).
Siteswithhighestnumbersof eggsandalevins
.8 12 352 364 0.018
189 138 107 245 0.010
190 232 0 232 0.010
10 6 213 219 0.015
97 193 11 204 0.035
Sjteswithhighestconcentrationsofammonia(NH3+ NH4+)
95 0 2 2 0.240
92 10 0 10 0.240
100 4 0 4 0.115
87 3 0 3 0.065
105 41 9 50 0.065
Combinedvaluesforall60sites
Mean:,:95%
confidence
interval 23.6:,:12.3 21.2:,:15.0
Range 0-232 0-352
upstreamversusdownstreamlocations)norwith
thedensityofeggsandalevins(r=-0.17,P>0.10)
(Table1).Noneof the fivesamplesiteswith the
highestammoniaconcentrationswasamongthe
fivesiteswith thehighestdensitiesof eggsand
alevins.
The lack of correlationof ammoniaconcentra-
tionswith alevindensitiesmaybeduetothevar-
iability of intragravel water flow. Intragravel
waterflowvariesconsiderablyfromsitetositein
all streamsandis affectedbysurfacewaterveloc-
ity,volumeofwaterflow,streamgradient,gravel
size,andobstructionsuchastreesor ice (Vaux
1968).Intragravel flow may differ in adjacent
redds (cross-streamor upstream-downstream).
Brickell andGoering(1972)foundthat ammonia
concentrationsin surfacewatersofSashinCreek
duringthefall spawningweregenerallygreaterat
thedownstreamsitesthanat theupstreamsites.
In contrast,wefoundnorelationbetweenconcen-
trationsof ammoniasampledin thespringfrom
intragravelwatersat upstreamanddownstream
sitesat SashinCreek.Furthermore,theconcen-
trationsofammoniain surfacewaterin ourstudy
weremuchlowerandmoreuniformthanthecon-
centrationsin theintragravelwater.WeconcludeI
thatmeasurementsofammoniain surfacewater
a~epoorestimatesof ammoniaconcentrationsof
intragravelwater.
Twiceeachyear,in earlyspringandin fall, am-
moniaconcentrationsin salmonstreamscanbe
Sample
site
number
Numberofegg~andalevins/0.1m2
Dead Live Total
Totalammonia
(ppm)
0.035:,:0.012
0.005-0.240
expectedto reachlevelspotentiallyharmful to
salmoneggsandalevins.In thefall, a largemass
of decaying salmon carcassesmay litter the
stream.Brickell and Goering(1972)measured
ammoniacalnitrogenin surfacewatersofSashin
Creekduringandafteraheavyrunofsalmonand
foundconcentrationsof ammoniato be greater
thanconcentrationsofammoniathatwefoundin
surfacewatersin thespring.BrickellandGoering
concludedthattheammoniawasfromthedecay-
ing carcassesandnot fromexcretionby pre-eyed
salmon eggs.Pre-eyedsalmon eggshave low
ammonia-excretionrates(RiceandStokes1975;
Bailey et al. 1980).Unfortunately,no samplesof
intragravelwaterweremeasuredin thestudyby
BrickellandGoering,butthepotentialforharmto
developingeggsis probablylow becausepink
salmoneggsarequitetolerantofammoniaatthis
life stage(RiceandBailey 1980).In earlyspring
whenwaterflowsare low andexcretionratesof
developingalevinsaremaximum,highconcentra-
tionsof ammoniacouldresult.Wefoundconcen-
trationsofammoniain someofthesalmonreddsto
behigherthan the concentrationsin concurrent
samplesofsurfacewaterandevenhigherthanthe
concentrationsreportedby Brickell andGoering
in thesurfacewaterin thefall.
Although the probabilityof exposureto high
levelsofammoniainspawninggroundsisgreatest
in thespringwhenalevinsaremostsensitive,the
highestlevelwe observedwas belowdangerous
levels.Thehighestconcentrationofammoniathat
wefoundin theintragravelsampleswas0.24ppm
total ammonia,which is about0.1ppb of toxic
un-ionizedammoniaatthepH andtemperatureof
Sashin Creek.This concentrationis only about
one-tenthofthelowestconcentrationthataffected
the sizeof fry resultingfromalevinsexposedto
ammoniafor 61days(RiceandBailey 1980)and
abouttwo-thirdsof the maximumconcentration
foundin hatcheryincubatorscontainingunusu-
allyhighdensitiesofeggs(Baileyetal.1980).Our
highestvaluefor intragravelwaterexceededthe
highestconcentrationsfoundin surfacewaterof
Sashin Creek(Brickell.andGoering1972)when
manydecayingsalmoncarcasseswerepresent.
In subarcticand arctic streamswherewater
temperatureand pH are low,it seemsunlikely
that ammoniawill accumulatein intragravel
watersto concentrationsthat will significantly
affectsizeorsurvivalofsalmonalevins.Ammonia
toxicity may be significantat higher tempera-
tures,especiallyin morealkalinestreams.
810
Ack~owledgmems
HowardSearshelpedus collectthewatersam-
ples,and William R. HeardandRoy Martin lo-
catedtherandomsitesanddeterminedthedensity
ofalevinsat eachsite.
LiteratureCited
BAILEY, J. E., S. D. RICE, J. J. PELLA, AND S.G. TAYLOR.
1980. Effectsofseedingdensityofpinksalmon,Oncorhyn-
chusgorbuscha,eggsonwaterchemistry,frycharacteris-
tics,andfry survivalin gravelincubators.Fish.Bull.,
U.S.78:649-658.
BRICKELL, D. C., AND J. J. GOERING.
1972. Chemicaleffectsofsalmondecompositionaquatic
ecosystems.In R. S. MurphyandD. Nyquist(editors),
InternationalSymposiumonWaterPollutionControlin
ColdClimates,p. 125-138.U.S. Gov.Print. Off.,Wash.,
D.C.
McNEIL, W. J.
1962. Variationsin thedissolvedoxygencontentofintra-
gravelwaterin four spawningstreamsof southeastern
Alaska. U.S.Fish Wildl.Serv.,Spec.Sci.Rep.Fish.402,
15p.
1964. A methodof measuringmortalityofpink salmon
eggsand larvae. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv.,Fish. Bull.
63:575-588.
McNEIL, W. J., R. A. WELLS, AND D. C. BRICKELL.
1964. Disappearanceofdeadpinksalmoneggsandlarvae
fromSashinCreek,BaranofIsland,Alaska. U.S. Fish
Wildl.Serv.,Spec.Sci.Rep.Fish.485,13p.
PENAZ, M.
1965. Influenceofammoniaoneggsandspawnsofstream
trout Salmo trutta M. Fario. Zool.Listy, Folia Zool.
14:47-53.[Translatedby and availablefrom Foreign
Fisheries(Translations),U.S.Dep.Cammer.,Wash.,D.C.]
RICE, S. D., AND J. E. BAILEY.
1980. Survival,size,andemergenceofpink salmon,On-
corhynchusgorbuscha,alevinsaftershort-andlong-term
exposurestoammonia. Fish.Bull.,U.S.78:641-648.
RICE, S. D., AND R. M. STOKES.
1975. Acutetoxicityofammoniatoseveraldevelopmental
stagesof rainbowtrout,Salmo gairdneri. Fish. Bull.,
U.S.73:207-211.
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.
1974. Methodsforchemicalanalysisofwaterandwastes.
U.S. Environ.ProtoAgency,EPA-625-16-74-003,298p.,
Wash.,D.C.
VAUX, W. G.
1968. Intragravelflow and interchangeof water in a
streambed.U.S. Fish. Wildl. Serv.,Fish. Bull. 66:479-
489.
STANLEY D. RICE
JACK E. BAILEY
NorthwestandAlaska Fisheries Center
Auke Bay Laboratory
National Marine Fisheries Seroice,NOAA
P.O.Box 155
Auke Bay,AX 99821
EGG CANNIBALISM IN THE
NORTHERN ANCHOVY, ENGRAULlS MORDAX
Anchoviesfeedon their own eggs.Egg canni-
balismhas beenreportedfor the Argentinean-
chovy,Engraulis anchoita(deCiechomski1967);
Japanese anchovy,E. japonicus (Hayasi 1967);
anchoveta,E. ringens(RojasdeMendiolaetal.l);
andthenorthernanchovy,E. mordax(Loukashkin
1970).Thesestudiesgiveno indicationwhether
thiscannibalismwasa significantpartofnatural
mortality and incidenceof cannibalismwas in-
cludedonlyaspartofageneraldescriptionof food
habits.Weprovideevidencethateggcannibalism
may accountfor a considerableproportion of
naturaleggmortalityin thenorthernanchovy.
Northern anchovyfeedby biting larger prey
andbyfilteringsmallerones(LeongandO'Connell
1969).If bothlargeandsmallpreyareofferedin
the laboratory,northernanchovyin the front of
the schoolbitethe largerprey,whereasthoseat
theendof theschoolfeedbyfilteringthesmaller
prey (O'Connell1972).Our laboratoryobserva-
tionsindicatethatadultnorthernanchovyfeedon
their eggsbyfiltering,whereaseventhesmallest
anchovylarvae(ca.3-4mmlong)arebitten.Such
smalllarvaearedigestedbeyondidentificationin
30 min,whereasthe identifiablewholechorions
andfragmentsmayremainin northernanchovy
stomachsup to 8 h althoughthecontentsof the
egg(embryoandyolk)aredigestedafterabout2h.
Northernanchovyeggsareprolatespheroidsand
can be easily distinguishedfrom the spherical
eggsof otherpelagicspawnersin the Southern
CaliforniaBight.
Methods
The incidenceof cannibalismin northernan-
chovywas estimatedfroman examinationof 31
setsofstomachsamples,usuallyo£1Oadultseach.
Samplesweretakenat thepeakof thespawning
season,in theSouthernCaliforniaBight,during
March1976and1977(Table1).Northernanchovy
werecollectedinamidwatertrawloracommercial
lamparanet:28 setsof collectionsweretakenat
night betweensunset and sunrise and 3 sets
duringtheday.Fish werefrozenin liquidnitrogen
lRojas de Mendiola,B., N. Ochoa,R. Calienes,and O.
Gomez. 1969. Contenidoestomacaldeanchovetaen cuarto
areas de la costaPeruana. Inst. Mar. Peru Inf. Espec.
(IM-27),29p.
FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 78,NO.3, 1980. 811


Ammonia concentrations in pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, redds of Sashin Creek, southeastern Alaska.

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Ammonia concentrations in pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, redds of Sashin Creek, southeastern Alaska.

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