Spatial distribution, survival, and growth of sibling groups of juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in an experimental stream channel

Abstract

The spatial distribution, survival, and growth of two full-sibling families of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in an experimental outdoor stream channel were compared between the families and with the performance of one of the families in an allopatric control channel after 75 d of rearing. No difference in survival was observed between families (81.2% overall), but their spatial distributions in the channel differed markedly. One family or the other numerically dominated 5 of 7 riffle-pool habitat units within the sympatric treatment channel. The family that was larger at the beginning of the experiment (0.52 vs. 0.37 g mean mass) was also larger at the end (2.03 vs. 1.58 g). While there was little evidence of density-dependent growth overall, the growth of each family was correlated with the density of siblings in the unit. However, the larger bodied family showed negative density-dependent growth, whereas the smaller bodied family showed positive density-dependent growth. These patterns of distribution and growth may have arisen from sibling recognition or some other proximate mechanism such as assortative distribution based on size or interfamily variation in aggression. Regardless of the mechanism, intrapopulation variation in distribution and growth may lead to considerable variation in fitness among families because these factors affect success in subsequent freshwater and marine life history stages.