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Seasonal size distribution of three-spined stickleback in an intermittent/perennial stream system
Citation:
Scanlan, M. I., D. Spencer, J. Falke, AND J. L. EBERSOLE. Seasonal size distribution of three-spined stickleback in an intermittent/perennial stream system. Presented at American Fisheries Society, Oregon Chapter, Bend, OR, February 22, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
To better understand patterns of habitat use by fish in an intermittent stream, we have been investigating the early life history of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).
Description:
To better understand patterns of habitat use by fish in an intermittent stream, we have been investigating the early life history of three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We collected three-spined stickleback and other fishes using dipnets, seines and minnow traps during the summer low-flow period across an array of sites ranging from perennial to intermittent in a single tributary of Oak Creek near Corvallis, OR. Three-spined stickleback were the most widely detected species within the tributary, occurring in isolated headwater pools, free-flowing perennial reaches, and beaver ponds. All three-spined stickleback were measured for standard length, and a sub-sample of fish were retained for otolith increment analysis to assess length-at-age and relative growth rates. Size distributions of three-spined stickleback indicate the possibility of multiple broods over the summer period. A relatively mild winter thermal and flow regime within this tributary might augment survival of late-hatching fry, expanding the spatial and temporal extent of suitable reproductive habitat for three-spined stickleback in this system. We are examining patterns in relative growth of larvae to test this hypothesis.