Morphological variability of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta in different river environments

Abstract

Abstract – The morphologies of sympatric juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar parr and brown trout Salmo trutta parr were compared between Irish rivers with contrasting hydraulic environments – a high‐gradient and a low‐gradient tributary from the River Barrow catchment, south‐east Ireland and a high‐gradient river from the Burrishoole catchment, west of Ireland. The two catchments differ markedly in mean annual precipitation (849.0 mm year−1 and 1370.3 mm year−1 for the Barrow and Burrishoole catchments, respectively). Parr of both species demonstrated morphological variation between and within catchments. Changes in metrics such as pectoral fin length, body depth and body length between and within catchments suggest that hydraulic forces were a major determinant of morphological variation. Both species from the Burrishoole catchment had relatively larger pectoral fins, longer heads, larger eyes and shallower bodies than conspecifics from the Barrow catchment. In rivers subject to frequent rainfall‐driven high discharges, such as those in the Burrishoole catchment, a more fusiform body and head shape coupled with larger pectoral fins may reduce the energetic cost of maintaining position in the water column, as well as increase stability and manoeuvrability. The larger eyes in both parr species in the Burrishoole catchment could further be a response to the lower visibility of the more turbid and peat‐stained waters or to the reduced prey availability. The results of this study demonstrate that local adaptation to flow conditions can yield morphologically distinct populations and that multiple species can exhibit parallel phenotypic responses to changing environmental conditions.