BIOLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS IN HUDSON BAY. 8. THE COREGONINE FISHES OF HUDSON AND JAMES BAYS

Abstract

Specimens of Coregonus clupeaformis, Prosopium quadrilaterale and Leucichthys artedi from Hudson and James bays are quite similar to specimens of the same species from the Great Lakes; Prosopium shows the most divergence.Coregonus does not grow as large in salt water as in fresh water lakes of the same latitude; its rate of growth is more rapid than that of whitefish in lake Nipigon, but slower than in lake Ontario; spawning fish are usually at least seven years old.For the first two or three years Leucichthys grows more slowly, but later more rapidly than in lake Ontario or Saginaw bay, lake Michigan; it also reaches a larger size than is usual in the Great Lakes; sexual maturity is probably not attained until at least the fourth year.