Stunted Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from the Rocky Mountains

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Abstract
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from Sassenach Lake, a subalpine lake in Jasper National Park, Alberta, are stunted and grow slower than lake trout from any other known population in North America. Mean weight at age 10 was 125 g and at age 20 was 281 g. The largest fish caught weighed 451 g and was 28 yr old. We attribute the slow growth to the absence in the lake of preferred lake trout foods such as amphipods and other fish species. Males were usually mature at > 75 g, and females were often mature at > 100 g. Fifty percent or more of males and females spawned at age 4 and 7, respectively. The age when .gtoreq. 50% of females spawn in Sassenach Lake, age 7, was typical for lake trout populations with > 5% but < 40% of the catch older than 10 yr. Thus, age at maturity was not obviously affected by the stunted condition of the population.

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