Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2614 2002 Life History Characteristics Of Freshwater Fishes Occurring in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, With Major Emphasis on Riverine Habitat Requirements by C.L. Evans1, J.D. Reist1 and C.K. Minns2 1. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Arctic Fish Ecology and Assessment Research, Central and Arctic Division, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N6 Canada 2. Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Great Lakes Laboratory of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Bayfield Institute, 867 Lakeshore Road, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 4A6 Canada. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2002 Cat. No. Fs 97-4/2614E ISSN 0706-6473 Correct citation of this publication: Evans, C.E., J.D. Reist and C.K. Minns. 2002. Life history characteristics of freshwater fishes occurring in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, with major emphasis on riverine habitat requirements. Can. MS Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2614: xiii + 169 p. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................viii RÉSUMÉ ........................................................................................................................viii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 METHODS ........................................................................................................................ 2 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................... 5 Lampreys (Petromyzontidae) ....................................................................................... 5 Arctic lamprey (Lampetra camtschatica).................................................................. 5 Salmonids (Salmonidae)................................................................................................ 7 Lake cisco (Coregonus artedi).................................................................................... 7 Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis)......................................................................... 8 Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) .............................................................. 10 Anadromous............................................................................................................ 10 Adfluvial ................................................................................................................. 12 Broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) ........................................................................ 13 Least cisco (Coregonus sardinella) .......................................................................... 14 Pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) ................................................................ 16 Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)........................................................................ 18 Kokanee Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)................................................................ 19 Anadromous............................................................................................................ 20 Freshwater resident ................................................................................................ 20 Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) ...................................................... 20 Round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum) .......................................................... 21 Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) ........................................................ 23 Riverine .................................................................................................................. 24 Adfluvial ................................................................................................................ 25 Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) .............................................................................. 25 Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus).......................................................................... 27 Riverine................................................................................................................... 30 Stream-resident ....................................................................................................... 30 Adfluvial ................................................................................................................. 31 Anadromous……………………………………………………………………….31 Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma)............................................................................ 31 Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)......................................................................... 34 Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys) ............................................................................... 35 Anadromous............................................................................................................ 35 Adfluvial ................................................................................................................. 36 Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus)....................................................................... 37 Riverine................................................................................................................... 37 Adfluvial ................................................................................................................. 40 Smelts (Osmeridae)...................................................................................................... 40 iii Pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus) ............................................................................... 40 Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) .......................................................................... 41 Mooneyes (Hiodontidae) ............................................................................................. 42 Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides)...................................................................................... 42 Pike (Esocidae)............................................................................................................. 43 Northern pike (Esox lucius)..................................................................................... 43 Minnows (Cyprinidae) ................................................................................................ 45 Lake chub (Couesius plumbeus).............................................................................. 45 Pearl dace (Margariscus margarita)........................................................................ 46 Emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides).................................................................. 47 Spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius)....................................................................... 48 Northern redbelly dace (Phoxinus eos) .................................................................. 49 Finescale dace (Phoxinus neogaeus) ....................................................................... 50 Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) ................................................................ 50 Flathead chub (Platygobio gracilis)......................................................................... 51 Longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae)................................................................. 52 Suckers (Catostomidae)............................................................................................... 53 Longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus) ............................................................ 53 White sucker (Catostomus commersoni)................................................................. 55 Cod (Gadidae).............................................................................................................. 56 Burbot (Lota lota) ..................................................................................................... 56 Sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae)..................................................................................... 58 Brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans)................................................................... 58 Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)................................................... 60 Riverine ................................................................................................................ 60 Anadromous .......................................................................................................... 61 Ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) .......................................................... 62 Trout-Perches (Percopsidae) ...................................................................................... 64 Trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) .................................................................. 64 Perches (Percidae)........................................................................................................ 65 Iowa darter (Etheostoma exile) ............................................................................... 65 Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) .............................................................................. 66 Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum)................................................................................