Atypical swimbladders of lake charr, Salvelinus namaycush, from Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada
October 31, 2007 - Randy L. Eshenroder; E. Don Stevens; Mara S. Zimmerman; Charles C. Krueger
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EmailJournal or Book Title: Environmental Biology of Fishes
Keywords: Buoyancy; Morphotype; Lake trout; Humper; Siscowet
Volume/Issue: 83
Page Number(s): 91-98
Year Published: 2008
<p></p><div>Swimbladder walls of lake charr, Salvelinus namaycush, from Great Slave Lake (GSL), Northwest Territories, Canada, were unusually thick for the species. The thinnest sections of the GSL bladders (mean = 2.44mm, range = 1.1–4.4mm) were significantly <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">thicker (P = 0.001) than lake charr swimbladders collected from two small Province of Ontario lakes (means = 0.65 and 0.92mm), whose populations were assumed to be representative of the species. Variance in wall thickness was also greater in GSL lake charr than in charr from two small lakes (P < 0.02). Within individuals, some of the GSL bladder walls were markedly irregular in thickness, but whether these anomalies exist in situ or were artifacts of preservation remains uncertain. The bulk of the tissue in the thickest sections of the GSL swimbladders was in the tunica serosa (outer layer). The extent of the modification of </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the GSL swimbladders is extraordinary for northern fishes in postglacial lakes.</span></div><p></p>
DOI: 10.1007/s10641-007-9287-5
Type of Publication: Journal Article
Publisher: Springer Science+Business Media
