Major range extensions of anadromous salmonids and first record of chinook salmon in the Mackenzie River drainage

Abstract

Spawning migrations of chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum), and Arctic cisco Coregonus autumnalis (Pallas), in the Liard River system (Mackenzie River drainage) within the Northwest Territories and British Columbia were documented during the period 1978 to 1981. These species have not been reported previously from the Liard River. The points of capture, as far upstream as the Grand Canyon of the Liard, represent a major southerly range extension in the Mackenzie River drainage and upstream migrations of nearly 2000 km from the Beaufort Sea. The first record of a chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), from the Mackenzie River drainage is reported also. The specimen was collected in the Liard River, Northwest Territories, and was probably a stray, accompanying a spawning escapement of chum salmon.