Diet of cisco (Coregonus spp.) in Algonquin Park region lakes: variation among forms

Abstract

Efforts to conserve cisco (Coregonus spp.) diversity in Canadian lakes have been impeded by the unresolved taxonomy of North American ciscoes. When a strictly taxonomic-based approach is not possible, conservation units of infraspecific diversity can be identified using biological, morphological, ecological, and genetic evidence. Distinct cisco forms have been reported from deep oligotrophic lakes within boundaries of the historical outflow of glacial Lake Algonquin. In this study, we described the diet of three cisco forms netted from eight lakes located in or adjacent to Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. Opossum Shrimp (Mysis diluviana) was the dominant prey of benthic, low gill raker count forms in Trout and White Partridge Lakes, and of a large-bodied, high gill raker count form in Hogan Lake. Zooplankton was the most important prey item of small-bodied, pelagic forms in White Partridge Lake, and Cisco (Coregonus artedi) collected from five other Algonquin Park lakes. The diet of Trout Lake Cisco was a broader mix of prey items, including chironomid pupae, Opossum Shrimp, phantom midges (Chaboridae spp.), and zooplankton. Our study provides strong dietary evidence of the special ecological context occupied by cisco forms in White Partridge Lake, and moderate evidence for Trout Lake. Past reports of Shortjaw Cisco (Coregonus zenithicus) in six of the study lakes were not supported by our sampling, because low gill raker count forms were not captured.