Life‐history effects of migratory costs in anadromous brown trout

Abstract

Mean size of sexually mature anadromous brown trout (sea trout) Salmo trutta in south‐east Norway increased significantly with migratory distance (D) between the feeding area at sea and the spawning area in fresh water, from 32 cm for those spawning close to the river mouth to 43 cm at the spawning grounds 40 km inland. This was largely due to an increased size of the smallest anadromous spawners with increasing D. The raised mean size of the long‐distance migrants is paralleled by an increased age at sexual maturity. Body mass at the same length of sea trout decreased with D in fresh water, meaning that the fish moving far inland was slimmer than those spawning near the coast. Gonadal mass of first‐time spawning anadromous males declined significantly with D, and the fecundity and the ratio of fecundity over mean mass of the individual eggs adjusted for variation in fish mass, increased with D. There was no clear relationship between the ratio of anadromous to resident fish and D, probably because more variables than D, influence this relationship in the study streams.