THE SPAWNING AND EARLY LIFE HISTORY OF THE WHITEFISH, COREGONUS CLUPEAFORMIS (MITCHILL), IN THE BAY OF QUINTE, ONTARIO

Abstract

The spawning run of whitefish is described in respect to the details of the migration and sex ratio, age and size, and breeding characters of the fish. An investigation of the eggs in the spawning grounds by the use of a pump indicates that the proportion of eggs to be fertilized is high but that there is a high mortality during the development. Many whitefish eggs are eaten on the spawning grounds by the common perch (Perca flavescens). For the first time there is recorded the capture of a complete series of whitefish young of the year. Based on this material are descriptions of the stages of the young from twelve millimetre to eighty millimetre stages and the characters differentiating whitefish from cisco. The rate of growth of the fry is slow at first but is much accelerated in the latter part of May and until the end of July. The food from the first consists of Entomostraca, chiefly Bosmina, Daphnia and Cyclops. The first movement of the newly hatched fry is inshore close to the surface. Later they form schools and finally take to deeper water. Records of physical conditions in the habitat of young whitefish are recorded. Consideration of the food and other habits and the concentration of predaceous species where young whitefish are abnormally abundant leads to the recommendation that hatchery fry should be widely distributed in shallow water.