Salvelinus namaycush

History of Spread

Salvelinus namaycush (Lake Trout) is native to 'N. Canada and AK south to New England and Great Lakes' (Page and Burr 1991), and to the Finger Lakes, just beyond the northern edge of the Chesapeake basin (Greeley 1939). This species is confined to deep lakes in the United States (Becker 1983; Scott and Crossman 1973). It has been introduced widely outside its natural range in North America, (Lee et al. 1980; Scott and Crossman 1973 ), to South America, Switzerland, and New Zealand (Lever 1996). It is a recent unwanted invader of Yellowstone Lake WY. It has been stocked outside its native range in at least 31 states (Fuller et al. 1999).

Salvelinus namaycush was collected by Greeley (1939) in several glacial lakes in the uppermost Susquehanna basin, in New York State, where this fish may be native. On the mountain edge of the Chesapeake watershed, S. namaycush was stocked in Mountain Lake VA and several other VA locations in 1885-1889; and in Philpott Reservoir, 1963. All of these attempts were unsuccessful (Jenkins and Burkhead 1993). In the mid-central Chesapeake drainage, only mountain reservoirs approach suitability, but all introductions seem to have been unsuccessful. However, the MD Fisheries Commisioner, T.B. Ferguson wrote: 'We are inclined to believe that these fish can be established in the cold and deep pools of the western part of this state and also in the mill-ponds of the northern and eastern parts' (Ferguson 1877). 30,000 eggs were purchased from NY by the MD Commissioners of Fisheries in 1876, and 26,000 S. namaycush fry were hatched and distributed, 2,500 to the Youghiogheny River (Ohio drainage) and the rest to Chesapeake tributaries (Ferguson 1877). In 1882, an additional 20,000 fish were sent to Baltimore by the United States Fish Commision (Smiley 1884a), but there was no mention of them in state records for that year.

Potomac River - Four thousand and 3,000 fish, respectively were stocked in the Potomac drainage at Pipe Creek (Monocacy) Westminster MD, and in Conocheague Creek near Hagerstown in April 1877 (Ferguson 1877).

Patuxent River - Three thousand fish were stocked in the Patuxent at Ellicott City MD in April 1876 (Ferguson 1877).

Susquehanna River - Salvelinus namaycush were repeatedly stocked in Harvey's Lake PA, Susquehanna drainage (Denoncourt et al. 1975b), but not recorded from Conowingo Dam (McKeown 1984). 4,000 fish were stocked in Octararo Creek, tributary to the Susquehanna, in April 1887 (Ferguson 1877).

Upper Bay and Tributaries - Batches of 3,000 and 3,100 fish, respectively, were planted in the Little Gunpowder River and Winter Run in April 1876 (Ferguson 1877).

Delaware River - Salvelinus namaycush were stocked in Delaware River by NJ Fisheries Commission, and 2,000 more were stocked by the United States Fish Commission in 1872-1882 in Delaware Bay, unsuccessfully (Raasch and Altemus 1991).

There are no further records on survival of lake trout in the Chesapeake or Delaware Bays.

History References - Becker 1983; Denoncourt et al. 1975; Ferguson 1877; Fuller et al. 1999; Greeley 1939; Jenkins and Burkhead 1993; Lever 1996; McKeown 1984; Page and Burr 1991; Raasch and Altemus 1991; Smiley 1884a; Scott and Crossman 1973

Invasion Comments