Previously Undocumented Two‐Year Freshwater Residency of Juvenile Coho Salmon in Prairie Creek, California

Abstract

AbstractOver 2,000 juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch were tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags during the fall of 1998 and 1999 in Prairie Creek, California, as part of a study on individual winter growth rates and movement of juvenile coho salmon. During this study, age‐2 out‐migrants were incidentally observed. Previously, it had been generally assumed that all juvenile coho salmon in northern California streams spend only 1 year in freshwater before out‐migrating at age 1 and that a 2‐year freshwater life history pattern was found only in the more northerly portions of the species' range. Subsequently, scale analysis of PIT‐tagged fish recaptured during spring out‐migration was used as a basis for estimating the proportion of out‐migrants displaying a 1‐ or 2‐year freshwater residency life history. Twenty‐eight percent (28%) of out‐migrants captured in spring 2000 displayed a 2‐year freshwater residency life history, apparently related to low winter growth rates documented in related research in the study stream.