Interspecific interactions between brown trout and slimy sculpin in stream enclosures

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
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Abstract

We conducted a 30-d manipulative experiment in Valley Creek, Minnesota, to examine interspecific interactions between juvenile brown trout Salmo trutta and adult slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus. We measured the instantaneous growth of each species in the presence and absence of the other in 1-m2 enclosures. We tested single-species (three slimy sculpins/m2 or three brown trout/m2) and combined-species (three sculpins/m2 and three trout/m2) combinations in each of six riffles. We placed a clay tile in each enclosure to evaluate the effects of fish combinations on benthic macroinvertebrates. Growth of brown trout was unaffected by the presence of slimy sculpins (P = 0.647, power [to detect 50% increase in growth] = 0.92), whereas slimy sculpin growth was less in the presence of brown trout (P = 0.038). Densities of total benthic macroinvertebrates, Chironomidae, Trichoptera, and Physa did not differ among fish combinations (P > 0.3). However, densities of Gammarus pseudolimnaeus were significantly less in the presence of brown trout irrespective of the presence of slimy sculpins (P = 0.024), which could be a causal factor underlying the interaction between brown trout and slimy sculpins. We found asymmetrical competition between brown trout and slimy sculpins in stream enclosures, with brown trout being the superior competitor. Nevertheless, the size of enclosures may have biased our results, making it more likely to detect an effect of brown trout on slimy sculpins than vice versa.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Interspecific interactions between brown trout and slimy sculpin in stream enclosures
Series title Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
DOI 10.1577/1548-8659(2003)132<0611:IIBBTA>2.0.CO;2
Volume 132
Issue 3
Year Published 2003
Language English
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
First page 611
Last page 618
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