Age and growth of Siberian sculpin (Cottus poecilopus) and young brown trout (Salmo trutta) in a subalpine Norwegian river

Abstract

Age, growth and density of Siberian sculpin (Cottus poecilopus) and young brown trout (Salmo trutta) within two sections of River Atna; above Lake Atnsjøen [Section 1 at altitudes between 739 and 715 m] and below Lake Atnsjøen [Section 2 at altitudes between 430 and 370 m] was studied during a 6-year period (1986-91). The water temperature was considerably lower in Section 1 than in Section 2, as the number of days with a water temperature above 10 °C (T^{D> 10 °c} ) from spring to August 1 ranged between 2-26 and 26-52 days, respectively. Juvenile brown trout (age 0+) attained a significantly smaller body size in Section 1 than in Section 2; mean length ±SD was 35 ± 8 mm (ranged 27-46) and 43 + 7 mm (range 38-46), respectively. In Section 2, there was a highly positive correlation between the body length of 0+ brown trout and mean water temperature in June (p < 0.005), and also to some extent in Section 1 (p = 0.11). Individuals of age 1+ did not exhibit any such difference, while fish in age group 2+ were larger in Section 1 than in Section 2. By using the number of days with a water temperature between the range 5-10 °C (_T>5-10°C) as test variables, we found a highly positive correlation between the August 1 body length of 0+ brown trout and T^{D>9 °C} from spring to August 1 in Section 2 (p < 0.05), as opposed to T^{D>7 °C} for trout in Section 1 (p = 0.11). Young Siberian sculpin (age 0+ and 1+) also exhibited slower growth in Section 1 than in Section 2, but this was not the case among older specimens. In the year with the lowest temperature measured (1987), no 0+ Siberian sculpin were caught in any of the two sections, indicating that low temperature affects their survival. Both species exhibited large spatial and temporal variation in density. Thus, data on abundance and growth sampled on one occasion at one site can not be regarded as representative for these two fish populations.