| Abstract | Migration can be broadly defined as the seasonal relocation of an animal to regions where conditions are alternately favorable or unfavorable, followed by a return to their place of origin. Migration as a phenomenon presents itself in various ways across a wide range of species, including the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). O. mykiss exhibit partial migratory behavior, in which some individuals in the population will choose to migrate, while others do not. As such, there are two varieties of O. mykiss: the non-migratory rainbow trout (also known as residents) and the migratory steelhead (also known as migrants). Anthropogenic effects have been adversely affecting O. mykiss, with more severe effects on the migratory steelhead populations. Therefore, conservation efforts have turned to residential rainbow trout populations to determine whether they could act as a reservoir to breed and replenish dwindling steelhead populations. The site for this study was the Sashin system, and although previous research has found that Sashin lake is able to produce migratory individuals, it had not yet been tested whether those individuals were able to complete their marine migrations and return to Sashin creek to spawn. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to genotype returning steelhead samples to determine whether they originated from Sashin lake or Sashin stream, with the aim of identifying returning steelheads that had originated from the lake. DMAS-qPCR techniques were used to genotype fifteen samples at 8 previously identified loci containing SNPs between migrant and resident individuals. The results indicate that the steelhead produced by Sashin lake are able to successfully complete their marine migrations, and therefore could be used as a reservoir for conservation of the anadromous population. |
