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Paul H. Eschmeyer

Publications and source records attributed to Paul H. Eschmeyer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1974

Bibliography of research publications of the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 1928-1972

This bibliography comprises publications in fishery and wildlife research authored or coauthored by research scientists of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and certain predecessor agencies. Separate lists, arranged alphabetically by author, are given for each of 17 fishery research and 6 wildlife research laboratories, stations, investigations, or centers. Publications coauthored by Bureau scientists from different research units are credited to the facility at which the senior author was stationed at the time of publication.

Resource Publication↗
USGS1965

Fat content of the flesh of siscowets and lake trout from Lake Superior

Samples of flesh were excised from the middorsal region of 67 siscowets (Salvelinus namaycush siscowet) and 46 lake trout (Salvelinus n. namaycush) collected from Lake Superior. Chemical analysis of the samples revealed a range in fat content (dry weight) of 32.5 to 88.8 per cent in siscowets and 6.6 to 52.3 per cent in lake trout. Percentage fat increased progressively with increase in length of fish in both forms, but the average rate of increase was far greater for siscowets than for lake trout at lengths between 12 and 20 inches. Despite substantial individual variation, the percentage fat in the two forms was widely different and without overlap at all comparable lengths. The range in iodine number of the fat was 100 to 160 for siscowets and 103 to 161 for lake trout; average values were generally lower for siscowets than for lake trout among fish of comparable length. Percentage fat and relative weight were not correlated significantly in either subspecies. The fat content of flesh samples from a distinctive subpopulation of Lake Superior lake trout known as 'humpers' was more closely similar to that of typical lean lake trout than to siscowets, but the rate of increase in fat with increasing length was greater than for lean lake trout. Flesh samples from hatchery-reared stocks of lake trout, hybrid lake trout X siscowets, and siscowets tended to support the view that the wide difference in fat content between siscowets and lake trout is genetically determined.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1957

The near extinction of lake trout in Lake Michigan

After the collapse of the commercial fishery for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Michigan in the late 1940's, the further decline of the population was traced by records of numbers of small lake trout (mostly 11 to 16 inches in total length and 3 to 5 years old) caught in small-mesh nets of the chub (Coregonus \[= Leucichthys\] spp.) fishery. By 1951 the estimated abundance of these lake trout in lower Lake Michigan was only about 4 percent of their abundance prior to the invasion of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). This remnant of the population declined severely in subsequent years to a point near extinction by 1955. In April-July 1955 only 8 lake trout were caught in 5 1/2 million linear feet of gill net. Statistics of the lake trout and chub fisheries in State of Michigan waters of Lake Michigan for the years 1929–1954 give no indication that the destruction of small lake trout in the chub fishery had any effect on the later abundance of lake trout of commercial size, or that this destruction was a significant factor in the collapse of the lake trout fishery. Lake trout were brought near extinction by lethal attacks of the sea lamprey and by the near or perhaps complete failure of natural reproduction in 1949 and subsequently. Comparisons in 1949 and 1950 of numbers of legal-sized lake trout caught in large-mesh nets with numbers of small fish taken in chub nets showed that both large and small lake trout declined over the same period, and that by these years the decline may have been greater among small than among legal-sized fish.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1956

Biology of young lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Michigan

Experimental fishing with gill nets of 5 mesh sizes (2 3/8 to 3 inches) in Lake Michigan in 1930-32 yielded more than 16,000 young lake trout. Data are presented here on age, growth, length-weight relationship, abundance, geographical and bathymetric distribution, and other details of their biology.

Research Report↗
USGS1955

The pygmy whitefish, Coregonus coulteri, in Lake Superior

Bottom trawling by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service motor vessel Cisco in Lake Superior in 1952–1953 revealed a large population of a tiny whitefish, Coregonus (Prosopium) coulteri, which has been reported previously only from northwestern North America. The hiatus in range, from Lake Superior to the Columbia River basin, is the greatest known for a North American freshwater fish. Although minor structural differences characterize the disjunct populations of the pygmy whitefish, these are not deemed worthy of nomenclatorial recognition. Comparisons with related species indicate that the pygmy whitefish is distinctive in the small size, large scales, few vertebrae, few pyloric caeca, and in other characters. The pygmy whitefish is widely distributed in Lake Superior, especially in semi-protected bays, such as Keweenaw Bay which yielded about 68 percent of the 1,623 specimens caught. The bathymetric range was 10 to 49 fathoms, with maximum abundance at the 25- to 39-fathom interval. Average length of fish increased progressively with water depth, chiefly because the number of yearlings declined from 100 percent at 10–14 fathoms to none at 45–49 fathoms. The average total length of pygmy whitefish caught by trawling was 3.4 inches (range 1.2 to 5.7). Extraordinarily slow growth was revealed by the examination of scales. Two fish from Keweenaw Bay, both nearing the end of their eighth growing season, were only 5.4 inches long. Compared to Keweenaw Bay, growth rate was about the same near Laughing Fish Point, faster in the Apostle Islands (and in Bull and McDonald Lakes, Montana), and slower in Siskiwit Bay, Isle Royale. Females grew more rapidly than males after the second year and had a longer life span. All male pygmy whitefish were mature at the age of 2 years and a total length of 3.6 or more inches. Most females were mature at 3 years and 4.2 inches; all older females were mature. Mean egg production was 362 (range, 93 to 597) per fish and 26 per gram of total weight for fish from 3.4 to 5.9 inches long. Spawning in 1953 occurred sometime in November or December. Crustacea (principally ostracods and amphipods–copepods in the young) occurred in 106 of 112 pygmy whitefish stomachs and made up 77 percent of the total food volume. When available, fish eggs appear to be important in the diet. Other cold-water fishes–cottids, ninespine sticklebacks, smelt, and four species of coregonines–were the most frequent associates of the pygmy whitefish. Lake trout and trout-perch were also taken with it at the same stations or in the same trawl hauls. Its closest relative in Lake Superior, the round whitefish, was not an ecological associate.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1955

The reproduction of lake trout in southern Lake Superior

The principal spawning grounds of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush namaycush) in United States waters of southern Lake Superior are on rocky shoals at depths of less than 20 fathoms. Most spawning occurs in October and early November. Of the mature fish collected on or near the spawning grounds, 60 to 69 percent were males. Among mature fish the average length of females was greater than that of males; few males less than 24 inches or females less than 26 inches in total length were caught. Recoveries of lake trout tagged on the spawning grounds showed that some males remained in the immediate area for a period of several weeks during the spawning season. Marked fish showed a tendency to return during later years to spawning grounds on which they had been tagged, even though many of them ranged long distances between spawning seasons. The percentage of the total weight composed by gonads of maturing females collected in 1950 was 5.0 percent on August 11–30 and 12.3 percent on October 6–9, but this increase was not accompanied by an increase in the coefficient of condition. One volumetric and two gravimetric methods for estimating numbers of eggs in ovaries were evaluated. Some advantage in accuracy of estimate resulted from the drying of eggs in an oven before weighing on an analytical balance. Production of eggs by 70 lake trout ranging from 25.1 to 38.0 inches in total length and from 5.8 to 19.6 pounds in weight ranged from 2,476 to 17,119. Average production was 646 per pound of fish; this number was greater among fish 31.0 inches long or larger than for fish of smaller size. Thirteen fish identified by commercial fishermen as siscowets (Salvelinus namaycush siscowet) also showed extensive individual variation in numbers of eggs, although egg production tended to increase with increasing length and weight of the fish. A mature female siscowet as small as 16.5 inches long and a 15.7-inch mature male were collected about 45 miles north of Grand Marais, Michigan. Combined data from all collections showed that spawning of lake trout or siscowets may occur during at least 6 months of the year (June to November).

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1953

The effect of ether anesthesia on fin-clipping rate

As part of an experimental program to learn the effects of stocking lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior, 141, 392 fingerlings were marked at the Charlevoix (Michigan) Station of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in October 1952. The adipose fin was removed from all fish, the right pelvic from the remainder. A random sample of 2, 417 of the fish showed an average total length of 4.0 inches (range, 2.7 to 5.4). The mean weight of all fish marked was slightly less than one-third ounce (49 fish per pound). The local women, none of whom had previous experience in the work, were employed to mark the fish. Bone-cutting forceps were used for excision of the fins, and each worker wore a bobbinet glove to facilitate handling of the fish. On alternate days the fish were anesthetized with ether before marking, to determine the effect of its use on the fin-clipping rate.

Progressive Fish-Culturist↗
USGS1953

The movement of tagged lake trout in Lake Superior, 1950-52

A total of 733 native lake trout was tagged at two widely separated localities in Lake Superior; subsequent recaptures numbered 155 fish (21.1 percent) during the year following marking. In October 1950, 116 large lake trout (average total length, 27.3 inches) were tagged near Keweenaw Point, Michigan. Fifteen (12.9 percent) were recovered during the first year at points as far west as the Gooseberry River, Minnesota (190 miles), north to the Slate Islands, Ontario (95 miles), and east to Grand Marais, Michigan (100 miles). Nine fish (7.8 percent) were recovered during the second year after marking. Returns from 617 tagged lake trout of smaller size (average length 18.2 inches) released in the Apostle Island region of Wisconsin during the period June 12 to August 6, 1951, numbered 140 (22.7 percent) during the first year. Of these fish, 90 percent were recaptured within a radius of 50 miles of the points of release. Seventy-six percent were caught in Wisconsin, 14 percent in Minnesota, and 9 percent in Michigan waters. The fish retaken in Michigan had moved 120 to 255 miles between the time of release and recapture, traveling as far west as Grand Marais. Lake trout recaptured at distances of more than 50 miles from the tagging locality were of larger average size than marked fish caught within this radius. The four types of tags used in the marking of lake trout in the Apostle Island region, together with the number tagged and percentage recovered during the first year were as follows: 103 aluminum lower-jaw tags (used only on fish less than 17 inches in length when marked)-10.7 percent; 200 monel upper-jaw tags-14 percent; 162 streamer tags-19.8 percent; and 152 Peterson tags-45.4 percent. Obviously lake trout marked with the Peterson tag, with the discs and ends of the pin projecting from each side near the point of maximum girth, were more vulnerable to the fishery than were fish marked with other tags. The recoveries of marked fish show that Lake Superior lake trout-particularly fish of large size-may move many miles and freely cross political boundaries; and that the rate of harvest is moderately high for a fish with a life history as long as that of the lake trout.

Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin↗
USGS1953

Movement of tagged lake trout in Lake Superior, 1950-1952

A total of 733 native lake trout was tagged at two widely separated localities in Lake Superior; subsequent recaptures numbered 155 fish (21.1 percent) during the year following marking. In October 1950, 116 large lake trout (average total length, 27.3 inches) were tagged near Keweenaw Point, Michigan. Fifteen (12.9 percent) were recovered during the first year at points as far west as the Gooseberry River, Minnesota (190 miles), north to the Slate Islands, Ontario (95 miles), and east to Grand Marais, Michigan (100 miles). Nine fish (7.8 percent) were recovered during the second year after marking. Returns from 617 tagged lake trout of smaller size released in the Apostle Island region of Wisconsin during the period June 12 to August 6, 1951, numbered 140 (22.7 percent) during the first year. Of these fish, 90 percent were recaptured within a radius of 50 miles of the point of release. Seventy-six percent were caught in Wisconsin, 14 percent in Minnesota, and 9 percent in Michigan waters. The fish retaken in Michigan had moved 120 to 255 miles between the time of release and recapture, traveling as far east as Grand Marais. Lake trout recaptured at distances of more than 50 miles from the tagging locality were of larger average size than marked fish caught within this radius.

The Fisherman↗