Relative Abundance, Distribution, and Life Histories of Fish Species in The
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Eastern Washington University EWU Digital Commons EWU Masters Thesis Collection Student Research and Creative Works 2014 Relative Abundance, Distribution, and Life Histories of Fish Species in the Colville River Watershed, Stevens County, Washington Aaron Mettler Eastern Washington University Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.ewu.edu/theses Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Mettler, Aaron, "Relative Abundance, Distribution, and Life Histories of Fish Species in the Colville River Watershed, Stevens County, Washington" (2014). EWU Masters Thesis Collection. 194. http://dc.ewu.edu/theses/194 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research and Creative Works at EWU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in EWU Masters Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of EWU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Relative Abundance, Distribution, and Life Histories of Fish Species in the Colville River Watershed, Stevens County, Washington. A Thesis Presented to Eastern Washington University Cheney, Washington In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Science in Biology Aaron J. Mettler Spring 2014 THESIS OF AARON J. METTLER APPROVED BY Dr. Allan Scholz, Graduate Study Professor Date Dr. Camille McNeely, Graduate Study Committee Date Dr. Stacy Warren, Graduate Study Committee Date ii MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Eastern Washington University, I agree that the JFK Library shall makes copies freely available for inspection. I further agree that copying of this project in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signature Date iii Abstract This was the first study to report on the fish assemblage of the Colville River watershed, Stevens County, Washington. Sixty-nine sites were sampled from May – November of 2013, 19 in the Colville River and 50 in its tributaries: Blue Creek (n=2), Chewelah Creek (n=6), Cottonwood Creek (n=2), Deer Creek (n=2), Gold Creek (n=3),Haller Creek (n=2), Huckleberry Creek (n=3), Jump Off Joe Creek (n=2), Little Pend Oreille River (n=11), Mill Creek (n=8), Paye Creek (n=1), Sheep Creek (n=2), Sherwood Creek (n=2), Stensgar Creek (n=2), Stranger Creek (n=1), and Thomason Creek (n=1). Sites were sampled using backpack electrofishing, seine nets, and minnow traps. A total of 4,314 fish were captured representing six families and 28 species. The species (relative abundance) were: carp (3.5%), peamouth (>0.1%), northern pikeminnow (0.3 %), longnose dace (3.4 %), Umatilla dace (3.8 %), speckled dace (14.7%), redside shiner (13.7%), tench (0.3 %), longnose sucker (1.7 %), bridgelip sucker (>0.1%), largescale sucker (1.2%), lake whitefish (>0.1%), mountain whitefish (0.3 %), westslope cutthroat trout (>0.1%), coastal rainbow trout (8.0%), interior rainbow trout (14.1%), brown trout (8.0%), brook trout (11.0%), prickly sculpin (2.9%), mottled sculpin (2.6%), slimy sculpin (>0.1%), shorthead sculpin (1.1%), torrent sculpin (7.6%), green sunfish (>0.1%), pumpkinseed (1.1%), bluegill (>0.1%), largemouth bass (>0.1%), and yellow perch (0.5%). The stocking record, water quality, and barrier falls were examined to assess the effects they potentially have on species distribution. Stocking was found to aid the distribution of non native trout (salmonids), sunfish (centrachids), and perch (percidae). iv Two water quality parameters were examined, water temperature (°C) and dissolved oxygen (mg/L). Neither was found to effect distribution. However, water temperature appeared to affect relative abundance, with different species relative abundances in the warmer Colville River compared to its cooler tributaries. Tributaries were cooler (average summer temperature= 12.8°C) and contained more salmonids (RA=73.4%) while the maintstem Colville had higher temperatures (average summer temperature= 17.7°C) and contained predominatly cyprinids (RA=71.2%).Waterfalls were examined to test the hypothesis that they were barrier falls to fish migration. I found that total numbers of fish species decreased above each waterfall, however stream size was more of a factor when comparing the average number of species found at each site (p<0.001). Life history data collected include age, diet, and fecundity. Fishes grew similar to that reported by many of the local lakes and streams however species that have a condition factor were found to grow at the average rate reported by Carlander (1969; 1977; 1997). Diet was consistent with reported diets by species. Fecundity of cyprinid species was within the ranged reported for each species. This study documented the presence of Umatilla dace in this watershed and reported on their growth, diet, and fecundity. Growth was found to be faster than reported by COSEWIC (2010) in British Columbia. Diet consisted primarily of trichopterans and detritus. Fecundity ranged from 474 to 2,134 eggs in females 86 to 115 mm in total length and 5 to 15 g in weight. v Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Allan Scholz for providing me the opportunity to study the Colville River Watershed and for all of his guidance and advice he has provided for me throughout my undergraduate and graduate career. I would also like to thank my committee members Dr. Camille McNeely and Dr. Stacy Warren for their input and advice as well. Special thanks to Jenna Hatem, Bryan Witte, Raymond Ostlie, and Jessica Walston for all of their help in the field and laboratory. I would also like to acknowledge Dana Stroud, Aaron Stroud, and Mark Paluch for their knowledge and input into this thesis. Thanks are also given to Bill Baker and Charles Lee from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Karen Honeycutt from the United State Forest Service, Jerry Cline from the Little Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge, and Charlie Kessler from the Stevens County Conservation district for all of their support and advice throughout this project. Lastly I would like to specially thank all of the land owners who graciously gave me and my sampling crew permission to sample sites located on their property, without which sampling would have been limited. Fish were collected under a Washington State scientific collector permit (No. 13-020) issued to Dr. Allan Scholz and under IACUC approval from Eastern Washington University. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. VI LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... XI LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... XVI INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 STOCKING HISTORY ......................................................................................................... 1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 3 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) ........................................ 3 United States Forest Service (USFS) ...................................................................... 3 Water Resource Inventory Area 59 (WRIA 59) ..................................................... 4 Summary of previous investigations ....................................................................... 5 OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................... 7 MATERIALS & METHODS........................................................................................... 8 Watershed ............................................................................................................... 8 Methods................................................................................................................. 10 Sampling Effort ..................................................................................................... 12 Target Species ....................................................................................................... 13 Minnows ........................................................................................................... 13 Suckers .............................................................................................................. 13 Salmonidae ........................................................................................................ 13 Sculpin .............................................................................................................. 14 HYPOTHESES .................................................................................................................. 15 DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 16 Length, Growth, and Condition Factor ................................................................. 16 Age and Growth Analysis ..................................................................................... 17 Back Calculation