New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Abundance of brown trout as related to littoral zone gradient in Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, New Zealand

Rick J. Stoffels
Gerard P. Closs

Department of Zoology
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
email: rick.stoffels@toroa.otago.ac.nz

Abstract  Adult brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in lakes are primarily littoral/benthic foragers. We predicted that the distribution of adult brown trout in lakes would be shaped by foraging demands, and that they would be more abundant in gently sloping littoral areas, that is, littoral areas that have a greater space available to support benthic foraging habitats. To address this hypothesis, we measured abundance of brown trout among littoral areas with different gradients in Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri. There was a significant negative relationship between littoral zone gradient and relative abundance (CPUE) of adult brown trout. This result supports the hypothesis that brown trout aggregate in littoral areas with greater amounts of foraging habitat in Fiordland lakes.

Keywords  littoral topography; habitat use; littoral zone; brown trout; Salmo trutta

M01062 Received 6 July 2001; accepted 24 September 2001
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2002, Vol. 36: 455–458
0028–8330/02/3602–0455 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (49K)

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