Synopsis
Population densities of age-0 arctic chaff in the surf zone averaged 1.83 and 4.70 fish m-2 in August 1984 and June 1985, respectively. Length variation of the littoral fish was low in early summer, increasing in late summer and autumn. Newly emerged charr, ∼ 20 mm long, appeared in the stony shallow water zone during both May and June. From length variation and variation in mouth position of the young charr, it is concluded that at least two of the four chaff morphs in the lake are present in the surf zone during spring and summer. In August, some of the larger age-0 charr had moved out from the surf zone, into the pelagic and the deeper epibenthic waters. The food of young littoral charr was dominated by large chironomid larvae (instar 3 and 4) and pupae
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Antonsson, Ú. 1977. Zooplankton in Lake Thingvallavatn 1972–75. B. Sc. Thesis, University of Iceland, Reykjavik. 60 pp. (In Icelandic).
Balon, E.K. 1980. Early ontogeny of the European landlocked arctic charr - altricial form,Salvelinus (Salvelinus) alpinus alpinus. pp. 607–630. In: Balon, E.K. (ed.) Charrs: Salmonid Fishes of the GenusSalvelinus, Perpectives in Vertebrate Science 1, Dr. W. Junk Publishes, The Hague.
Frost, W.E. 1965. Breeding habits of Windermere char,Salvelinus willughbii (Gunther) and their bearing on speciation in these fish. Proc. R. Soc. Edinb. B. 163: 232–284.
Heggberget, T. 1984. Habitat selection and segregation of parr of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Atlantic salmon (S. salar L.) in two streams in North Norway. pp. 217–231. In: L. Johnson & B.L. Burns (ed.) Biology of the Arctic Charr, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Arctic Charr, Winnipeg, Manitoba, May 1981. University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg.
Hindar, K. & B. Jonsson. 1982. Habitat and food segregation of dwarf and normal Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) from Vangsvatnet Lake, western Norway. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 39: 1030–1045.
Johnson, L. 1976. Ecology of Arctic populations of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and arctic chaff (Salvelinus alpinus) and associated species in unexploited lakes of the Canadian Northwest Territories. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 33: 2459–2488.
Johnson, L. 1980. The arctic charr,Salvelinus alpinus. pp. 15–98. In: E.K. Balon (ed.) Charrs, Salmonid Fishes of the GenusSalvelinus Perspectives in Vertebrate Science 1, Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.
Jónasson, P.M. & C. Lindegaard. 1987. Ecosystem studies of North Atlantic Ridge lakes. Verh. Int. Verein. Limnol. (in press).
Jónsson, B. 1976. Comparison of scales and otoliths for age determination in brown trout,Salmo trutta L. Norw. J. Zool. 24: 295–301.
Jonsson, B. & F.R. Gravem. 1985. Use of space and food by resident and migrant brown trout,Salmo trutta. Env. Biol. Fish. 14: 281–293.
Jónsson, G.St. 1987. The depth-distribution and biomass of epilithic periphyton in Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Arch. Hydrobiol. 108: 531–547.
Kairesalo, T.K. Gunnarsson & G.St. Jónsson. 1987. The occurrence and photosynthetic activity of epiphytes on the tips ofNitella opaca Ag. (Charophycae). Aquat. Bot. 28: 333–340.
Kircheis, F.W. 1976. Reproductive biology and early life history of the sunapee trout of Floods Pont, Maine. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc 105: 615–619.
Lastein, E. 1983. Decomposition and sedimentation processes in oligotrophic, subarctic Lake Thingvalla, Iceland. Oikos 40: 103–112.
Lindegaard, C. 1980. Bathymetric distribution of Chironomidae (Diptera) in the oligotrophic Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland. pp. 225–232. In: D.A. Murray (ed.) Chironomidae, Ecology, Systematics, Cytology and Physiology, Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Lindegaard, C. 1982. Zoobenthos of Lake Thingvallavatn. Preliminary results. Mimeographed report, Freshwater Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen. 22 pp.
Lindem, T. 1983. Successes with conventional in situ determination of fish target strength. pp. 104–111. In: O. Nakken & C. Vennema (ed.) Symposium on Fisheries Acoustics, Bergen, Norway.
Lindem, T. & O.T. Sandlund. 1984. New methods in assessment of pelagic freshwater fish stocks — coordinated use of echosounder, pelagic trawl and pelagic nets. Fauna, Oslo 37: 105–111 (In Norwegian).
Lindström, T. 1955. On the relation fish size — food size. Rep. Inst. Freshwat. Res. Drottningholm 36: 133–147.
Magnússon, K.P. & M.M. Ferguson. 1987. Genetic analysis of four sympatric morphs of Arctic charr,Salvelinus alpinus, from Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Env. Biol. Fish. 20: 67–73.
Malmquist, H.J. 1983. Food, parasites and growth of the Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) morphs in Lake Thingvallavatn. B.Sc. Thesis, University of Iceland, Reykjavik. 112 pp. (In Icelandic).
Malmquist, H.J., S.S. Snorrasson & S. Skúlason. 1985. The biology of Arctic chary (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) in Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland. I. Feeding ecology. Natturufræingurinn 55: 195–217. (In Icelandic).
Nielsen, J. 1961. Age and growth of the freshwater stage of anadromous charSalvelinus alpinus. Medd. om Grønland 159 (8): 49–75.
Nilsson, N.-A. 1963. Interaction between trout and charr in Scandinavia. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 92: 276–285.
Ranta-aho, K. 1983. Juvenile biology and ecology of Arctic charrSalvelinus alpinus in Lake Myvatn. B.Sc. Thesis, University of Iceland, Reykjavik. 56 pp. (In Swedish).
Rudstam, L.G., C.S. Clay & J.J. Magnuson. 1987. Density and size estimates of cisco (Coregonus artedii) using analysis of echo peak PDF from a single transducer sonar. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 44: 811–821.
Saltveit, S.J. & J.-O. Styrvold. 1984. Density of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in two Norwegian regulated rivers. pp. 309–319. In: A. Lillehammer & S.J. Saltveit (ed.) Regulated Rivers, Univeritets-forlaget, Oslo.
Sandlund, O.T, B. Jónsson, H.J. Malmquist, R. Gydemo, T. Lindem, S. Skúlason, S.S. Snorrason & P.M. Jónasson. 1987. Habitat use of arctic charrSalvelinus alpinus in Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Env. Biol. Fish. 20: 263–274.
Seber, G.A.F. & E.D. LeCren. 1967. Estimating population parameters from catches large relative to the population. J. Anim. Ecol. 36: 631–643.
Siegel, S. 1956. Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. McGraw-Hill, New York. 312 pp.
Skúlason, S. 1986. Embryo size and early head shape in four sympatric morphs of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in Thingvallavatn, Iceland. M. Sc. Thesis, University of Guelph, Guelph. 105 pp.
Snedecor, G.W. & W.G. Cochran. 1967. Statistical methods. Sixth edition. Iowa State University Press, Ames. 593 pp.
Snorrason, S. S. 1982. The littoral ecosystem and the ecology ofLymnaea peregra in Lake Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Liverpool,. Liverpool. 429 pp.
Svärdson, G. 1976. Interspecific population dominance in fish communities of Scandinavian lakes. Rep. Inst. Freshwat. Res. Drottningholm 55: 144–171.
Windell, J.T. & S.H. Bowen. 1978. Methods for study of fish diets based on analysis of stomach contents. pp. 219–226. In: T. Bagenal (ed.) Methods for Assessment of Fish Production in Fresh Waters, IBP Handbook no 3, Blackwell Sci. Publ., Oxford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution from the Thingvallavatn project
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sandlund, O.T., Malmquist, H.J., Jonsson, B. et al. Density, length distribution, and diet of age-0 arctic charrSalvelinus alpinus in the surf zone of Thingvallavatn, Iceland. Environ Biol Fish 23, 183–195 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004909
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00004909