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Extensive feeding on sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka smolts by bull trout Salvelinus confluentus during initial outmigration into a small, unregulated and inland British Columbia river

December 31, 2015

Stomach contents were collected and analysed from 22 bull trout Salvelinus confluentus at the edge of the Chilko Lake and Chilko River in British Columbia, Canada, during spring outmigration of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka smolts. Twenty of the 22 (>90%) stomachs contained prey items, virtually all identifiable prey items were outmigrant O. nerka smolts and stomach contents represented a large portion (0·0–12·6%) of estimated S. confluentus mass. The results demonstrate nearly exclusive and intense feeding by S. confluentus on outmigrant smolts, and support recent telemetry observations of high disappearance rates of O. nerka smolts leaving large natural lake systems prior to entering high-order unregulated river systems.

Publication Year 2015
Title Extensive feeding on sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka smolts by bull trout Salvelinus confluentus during initial outmigration into a small, unregulated and inland British Columbia river
DOI 10.1111/jfb.12567
Authors Nathan B. Furey, Scott G. Hinch, A.G. Lotto, David A. Beauchamp
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Journal of Fish Biology
Index ID 70190304
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Coop Res Unit Seattle