Variation in Burst and Prolonged Swimming Performance Among British Columbia Populations of Coho Salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch

Abstract

Burst swimming tests, using both wild and laboratory-reared juvenile coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, from three streams (two south coastal British Columbia and one interior), indicated that in the first few hundredths of a second of a "fast-start" the coastal juveniles attain greater burst velocities than similar sized interior juveniles. Interior (Coldwater River) juveniles had greater swimming stamina than individuals from the two coastal streams: Wade and Morrison creeks. The differences in stamina performance were demonstrated to be inherited. The differences in swimming performance between coastal and interior are related to differences in body form; coastal coho have deep, robust bodies, while interior juveniles are more fusiform. The differences in swimming performance between coastal and interior coho salmon are probably adaptive and related to differences in the energetic demands of their freshwater migrations and perhaps to different levels of predation in coastal and interior streams.