SYLLOGEUS a NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES MUSEE NATIONAL DES SCIENCES NATURELLES SEEEBB55 5555255555 LYAAOTEY bE SESE bb 55055555 No. 8 Don. E. McAllister FISH COLLECTIONS FROM THE OTISH MOUNTAIN REGION, CENTRAL QUEBEC, CANADA rirwe ra MUSÉES NATIONAUX DU CANADA OTTAWA NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF CANADA Syllogeus includes papers on natural sciences and closely related topics that are not immedia- tely appropriate for inelüusion in other publications and are issued in either English or French. Syllogeus appears at irregular intervals and individual issues are available from the Library and the Director, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa, K1A OM8, Canada. La collection Syllogeus réunit un certain nombre d'articles sur les sciences naturelles ou sur des sujets qui leur sont apparentés, et qui sont publiés soit en frangais, soit en anglais. Les articles paraissent irréguliérement et on peut les obtenir de la bibliothéque des Musées nationaux ou du cabinet du Directeur du Musée des Sciences naturelles, Ottawa, K1A OM8, Canada. Syllogeus Series No. 8 - (c) Crown Copyrights reserved - The National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, April, 1975 Litho in Canada Fish Collections from the Otish Mountain Region, Central Québec, Canada Don E. McAllister Syllogeus No. 8 National Museum of Natural Sciences Musée national des Sciences naturelles National Museums of Canada Musées nationaux du Canada Ottawa, April, 1975 UB 69 +] 53 Lac Vallard À Na’ wi Lac As A VE a 3 Riviere Pipichicau b Ri viere Lac Seignelay Conflans I-AfLac du Lagopede î Pen Otish Riviere Mouchalagane Riviere Peribonca Lac Pletipi Lac Mouchalagane Fig. 1. Map of the Otish Mountain region. Collecting sites are shown by Xs. Arrows indicate the direction of flow in rivers. SUMMARY A brief survey in July 1971 revealed the following species in several lakes and streams within 113 km (70 miles) of the Otish Mountains in central Quebec: Coregonus clupeaformis, Prosopium cylindraceum, Salmo salar, Salvelinus fontinalis, Salvelinus namaycush, Esox lucius, Couesius plumbeus, Catostomus catostomus, Catostomus commersonii, Lota lota and Cottus bairdii. These records fill a large gap in the known distribution of most of these species for central Quebec. A theory is proposed that Salmo salar in Hudson Bay and its tributaries may have originated from headwater transfer rather than marine migration. RESUME Un relevé sommaire effectué en juillet 1971 a révélé la présence des espéces suivantes dans plusieurs lacs et cours d'eau situés dans un rayon de 113 km (70 milles) des monts Otish au centre du Québec: Coregonus clupeaformis, Prosopium cylindraceum, Salmo salar, Salvelinus fontinalis, Salvelinus namaycush, Esox lucius, Couesius plumbeus, Catostomus catostomus, Catostomus commersonii, Lota lota et Cottus bairdii. Ces données comblent une lacune importante dans la répartition connue de la plupart de ces espéces au centre du Québec. On émet la théorie que le Salmo salar a colonisé la baie d'Hudson et ses tributaires à partir des cours d'eau de l'intérieur plutôt qu'à la suite d'une migration en eau salée. = The Otish Mountain region is one of deep interest because the headwaters of three major drainages (Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay, and Gulf of St. Lawrence) are found there. The area was only recently deglaciated - about 7000 years ago (GSC Map 1257A, Retreat of Wisconsin and Recent Ice in North America) and contains numerous lakes, water courses and bogs. Knowledge of the fish distribution in central Quebec will provide information on the dispersal routes by which fishes attained their present distribution in northern Quebec. This paper makes a preliminary contribution to such knowledge. Reports on the fishes of Quebec were published as early as 1664 in Pierre Nouvelle France, vulgairement dite le Canada (Rousseau and Legendre, 1966). Work has continued steadily since then, especially along the St. Lawrence River system, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Ungava and Hudson Bays and in their closely adjoining fresh waters. These have culminated in general works such as Legendre (1954), Bergeron (1960), and Leim and Scott (1966). But central Quebec, unserved by roads or railways, its rivers interrupted by falls and rapids, has been little studied. Fowler (1961), Harper (1961), LeJeune (1963a and 1963b), McAllister (1964), McAllister and Bleakney (1960), Power and Oliver (1961), and recently Hazel, Mauffette et Legendre (1974) report on and summarize the records, largely peripheral, for this general region. These papers, and maps in Scott and Crossman (1973) show scarcely any records within a hundred miles of the Otish Mountains. The present survey was carried out from 6 to 12 July 1971 using a float equipped Beaver aircraft. A base camp was established at Lac du Lagopéde just north of Mont Yapaeitso, the highest peak (3700 feet) of the Otish Mountains (Fig. 1). Lac Lerole, 40 miles south was visited en route to the base camp. Two circuits were flown from the base camp to Lac Atticoupi, Lac Vallard, Lac Naococane, Lac Conflans and back on July 7 and July 8. On the first circuit, gill nets with 2 to 4 inch stretched meshes were set, on the second they were picked up. On both circuits collections were made using a weasel trawl (a small otter trawl) towed with an outboard driven inflatable rubber boat. A few additional collections were made using a seine, dipnets, and a minnow trap. The expedition was ably led by Henri Ouellet (ornithology), accompanied by Brian Kidd (malacology), Michael Shchepanek (botany) and the author (ichthyology), all of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa. Other expedition members were Michael Dadswell (crustaceology, then of Carleton University, Ottawa) and François Ukus (soil studies, Centre d'Etudes nordiques). To his fellow expedition members and to the pilots, the author is indebted for their assistance. Brian Kidd drafted the map. Vianney Legendre, Service de la Faune, Montreal, C.G. Gruchy, Henri Ouellet and M. Shchepanek of the museum criticized the manuscript. The National and Historic Parks Service generously provided funds for aircraft charter, through the kind offices of W. Cheffins. Results Table 1 summarizes the species obtained at each collection site and in each drainage basin. More detailed information including ecological and collection data is on file at the Ichthyology Section, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa. Examples of most species were donated to the Laboratoire de Recherches, Service de la Faune du Québec, Montréal. A total of eleven species was collected, 5 salmonids, 1 esocid, 1 cyprinid, 2 catostomids, 1 gadid, and 1 cottid in the 14 collections. Surface temperatures at collection sites were relatively warm, between 12° and 16°C. At 40m the temperature was 11 to 10e, at 60m 8°C. Waters were generally clear (with Secchi disk readings of 9 to 23 feet), with gravel, sand or boulder bottoms close to the shore and little or no aquatic vegetation. At least half the days during our stay were rainy. Aside from a few small patches in the mountains, there was no snow on the ground. Shchepanek (1973) reported on the terrestrial vegetation. Discussion Most of the species in this report represent new records for the Otish Mountain region (Scott and Crossman, 1973). Except for brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis, lake charr, Salvelinus nanaycush, lake whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, and walleye, Stizostedion vitreum, no fishes have been reported within a hundred mile radius of the base camp. Yet none of our collections contained range extensions of species of fish in any cardinal direction, although in several species they did fill in a large unknown area in the middle of their known distribution in Quebec. As no lake, except possibly Lac du Lagopède, was thoroughly sampled, deductions based on the absence of a species from a given lake or even a drainage system must be made with some caution. Collections were made from two or more water bodies in each major drainage system except for the Ungava Bay drainage. The Hudson Bay drainage with 10 species was found to be the richest, followed by the Gulf of St. Lawrence \ drainage with 9 species and the Ungava Bay drainage with 6 species. As Lac Vallard has connections with both the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Ungava Bay its species were included in the counts for both basins. Certain species which are known peripherally (Scott and Crossman, 1973) to the collecting area and which might have been expected in our collections are: the cisco, Coregonus artedii; longnose dace, Rhinichthys cataractae; pearl dace, Semotilus margarita; ninespine stickleback, Pungitius pungitius; and the slimy sculpin, Cottus cognatus. Their apparent absence may be real or due to the lack of adequate collecting. One species which was not expected this far inland was the ouananiche, Salmo salar. Surprisingly, rapids on the Riviére Mouchalagane and the Riviére Manicouagan have not prevented the penetration of this species to Lac Atticoupi. Ouananiche has been recorded from a Hudson Bay tributary, Kogaluk River by Le Jeune and Legendre (1968) and there are verbal reports of Atlantic salmon from the east coast of Hudson Bay (Hunter, 1968). One might have supposed that these owed their origin to southeastward straying in the sea from existing populations in Ungava Bay. However the occurrence of this species in headwaters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence drainage adjacent to headwaters of the Hudson Bay drainage suggests an alternate origin for Hudson Bay populations. Present (see concerning Lac Vallard, above) or past links between the two drainages or stream capture may have permitted Salmo salar to cross the watershed and descend downstream to Hudson Bay. Vianney Legendre (in litt.) has documented additional linkages between drainages. The discovery of Salmo salar in the Hudson Bay watershed above waterfalls would offer support to the present theory. Rod and line fishing was tried at Lac du Lagopéde. Both brook charr and lake charr were caught. The catch rate was about 2 fish per man-hour, suggesting a sport fishery potential. REFERENCES BERGERON, J. (1960). Liste des poissons marins de l'estuaire et du golfe St-Laurent. Contribution Département des Pêcheries du Québec. (80): 1-27. FOWLER, H.W. (1961). Taxonomic notes on fishes of the interior of the Ungava Peninsula. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 77(2): 309-311. HARPER, F. (1961). Field and historical notes on fresh-water fishes of the Ungava Peninsula and on certain marine fishes of the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 77(2): 312-342. HAZEL, P.P., MAUFFETTE, R. et LEGENDRE, V. (1974). Répartition géographique des poissons dans les bassins hydrographiques des riviéres Nottaway, Broadback, Rupert, La Grande (Baie James), Grande Baleine (Baie d'Hudson) et Caniapiscau (Baie d'Ungava). Programme de la 54° Réunion Annuelle de la Société américaine d'Ichtyologie et D'Herpétologie p. 15. HUNTER, J.G. (1968). Fishes and fisheries. pp.360-378. In Science, history and Hudson Bay. Volume 1. Department of Energy, Mines and Resources. Ottawa. LEGENDRE, V. (1954). Clef des poissons de péche sportive et commerciale de la Province de Québec. Société canadienne d'Ecologie. Montréal. Tome 1: 1-84. LEIM, A.H. and SCOTT, W.B. (1966). Fishes of the Atlantic coast of Canada. Bulletin of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada (155): 1-485. LE JEUNE, R. (1963a). Inventaire ichtylologique du lac Mistassini. Travaux en cours en 1963. Service de la Faune du Québec. Rapport (3): 399-422. (1963b). Rapport d'opérations - district d'aménagement de l'Ungava. Ibid (3): 253-256. LE JEUNE, ROGER et LEGENDRE, VIANNEY (1968). Extension d'aire du saumon d'eau douce (Salmo salar) au Québec. Naturaliste canadien 95: 1169-1173, 3 fig. McALLISTER, D.E. (1964). Fish collections from eastern Hudson Bay. Canadian Field-Naturalist 78(3): 167-178. McALLISTER, D.E. and BLEAKNEY, S. (1960). Some freshwater fishes from northeastern Quebec and Labrador. Bulletin of the National Museum of Canada (166): 31-39. POWER, G.F. and OLIVER, D.R. (1961). Notes on the distribution and abundance of freshwater fish in Ungava. Canadian Field Naturalist 75(4): 221-224. ROUSSEAU, J. and LEGENDRE, V. (1966). Poissons, batraciens, crustacés, insectes et mollusques. pp. 324-355. Dans Rousseau, J., Les animaux du Canada en 1664, La faune indigéne. Service de la Faune du Québec, Bulletin (8): 302-335. SCOTT, W.B. and CROSSMAN, E.J. (1973). Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Resarch Board of Canada Bulletin (184): 1-966, illus. SHCHEPANEK, MICHAEL J. (1973). Botanical investigation of the Otish Mountains, Québec. Syllogeus (2): 1—23.. TABLE 1 NUMERO DE CATALOGUE/ CATALOG NO. NMC 71-219 NMC 71-220 NMC 71-221 NMC 71-221-A ENDROIT/LOCALITY Lac Lerole Lac Lerole L. du Lagopéde L. du Lagopéde LATITUDE & LONGITUDE 51°44 'N 51°44 'N 52°20'N 52°20'N 70 46'W 70 46'W 70 25'W 70 25'W BASSIN/DRAINAGE St. Laurent St. Laurent Baie d'Hudson Baie d'Hudson SPECIES (NO. COLLECTIONS) SALMONIDAE Coregonus clupeaformis (4) x grand corégone/lake white- fish Prosopium cylindraceum (5) ménomini/round whitefish Salmo salar (1) saumon atlantique/Atlantic salmon Salvelinus fontinalis (4) X omble de fontaine/brook charr Salvelinus namaycush (7) xX touladi/lake charr ESOCIDAE Esox lucius (2) Xx grand brochet/northern pike CYPRINIDAE Couesius plumbeus (4) méné de lac/lake chub CATOSTOMIDAE Catostomus catostomus (6) x meunier rouge/longnose sucker Catostomus commersonii (5) x x Meunier noir/white sucker Catostomus sp. meunier/sucker GADIDAE Rota dota (6) lotte/burbot COTTIDAE Cottus bairdii (1) chabot tacheté/mottled sculpin Nombre d'espèces/ Number of species 11 espéces il 3 2 1 NUMERO DE CATALOGUE / CATALOG NO. NMC 71-222 ENDROIT/LOCALITY L. Atticoupi LATITUDE & LONGITUDE 52°38'N 69 56'N BASSIN/DRAINAGE St. Laurent SPECIES (NO. COLLECTIONS) SALMONIDAE Coregonus clupeaformis (4) xX grand corégone/lake white- fish Prosopium cylindraceum (5) ménomini/round whitefish Salmo salar (1) x saumon atlantique/Atlantic salmon Salvelinus fontinalis (4) omble de fontaine/brook charr Salvelinus namaycush (7) xX touladi/lake charr ESOCIDAE Esox lucius (2) grand brochet/northern pike CYPRINIDAE Couesius plumbeus (4) méné de lac/lake chub CATOSTOMIDAE Catostomus catostomus (6) x meunier rouge/longnose sucker Catostumus commersonii (5) x Meunier noir/white sucker Catostomus sp. meunier/sucker GADIDAE Lota lota (3) lotte/burbot COTTIDAE Cottus bairdii (1) chabot tacheté/mottled sculpin Nombre d'espèces/ Number of species 11 espèces 10 NMC 71-222-A L. Atticoupi 52°38'N 69°52'N St. Laurent NMC 71-223 L. Vallard 52°50'N 69 02'W St. Laurent & Baie d'Ungava X X X X X X 6 NMC 71-224 L. Naococane 57°47'N 70°38'W Baie d' Hudson NUMERO DE CATALOGUE / CATALOG NO. NMC 71-225 NMC 71-226 NMC 71-227 NMC 71-228 ENDROIT/LOCALITY Lac Conflans ruisseau trib. à sortie du lac Lac du Lac du Lagopède du Lagopède Lagopède LATITUDE & LONGITUDE 52°24'N 52°21'N 52°21'N 52°20'N 70 48'W 70 24'W 70 24'W TOm2 55 BASSIN/DRAINAGE Baie d' Baie d'Hudson Baie Baie Hudson d'Hudson d'Hudson SPECIES (NO. COLLECTIONS) SALMONIDAE Coregonus clupeaformis (4) grand corégone/lake white- fish Prosopium cylindraceum (5) x xX x ménomini/round whitefish Salmo salar (1) saumon atlantique/Atlantic salmon Salvelinus fontinalis (4) x x X omble de fontaine/brook charr Salvelinus namaycush (7) x x touladi/lake charr ESOCIDAE Esox lucius (2) grand brochet/northern pike CYPRINIDAE Couesius plumbeus (4) x X méné de lac/lake chub CATOSTOMIDAE Catostomus catostomus (6) x x X meunier rouge/longnose sucker Catostomus commersonii (5) Meunier noir/white sucker Catostomus sp. meunier/sucker GADIDAE lotamotan(é) x lotte/burbot COTTIDAE Cottus bairdii (1) chabot tacheté/mottled sculpin Nombre d'espèces/ Number of species 11 espèces NUMERO DE CATALOGUE / CATALOG NO. NMC 71-229 NMC 71-230 ENDROIT/LOCALITY Lac du Lac du Lagopède Lagopède LATITUDE & LONGITUDE 52°20'N 52°20'N 70 25'W 70 25'W BASS IN/DRAINAGE Baie Baie d'Hudson d'Hudson SPECIES (NO. COLLECTIONS) SALMONIDAE Coregonus clupeaformis (4) grand corégone/lake white- fish Prosopium cylindraceum (5) X ménomini/round whitefish Salmo salar (1) saumon atlantique/Atlantic salmon Salvelinus fontinalis (4) omble de fontaine/brook charr Salvelinus namaycush (7) x touladi/lake charr ESOCIDAE Esox lucius (2) grand brochet/northern pike CYPRINIDAE Couesius plumbeus (4) x méné de lac/lake chub CATOSTOMIDAE Catostomus catostomus (6) meunier rouge/longnose sucker Catostomus commersonii (5) Meunier noir/white sucker Catostomus sp. (x) meunier/sucker GADIDAE lota llota (3) x lotte/burbot COTTIDAE Cottus bairdii (1) x chabot tacheté/mottled sculpin Nombre d'espèces/ Number of species 11 espéces 12 SYLLOGEUS TITLES PUBLISHED TO DATE No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 McAllister, Don.E., Anton B. Leere, and Satya P. Sharma (1972) A BATCH PROCESS COMPUTER INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND CATALOGUING SYSTEM IN THE FISH COLLECTION, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES Shchepanek, M.J. (1973) BOTANICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE OTISH MOUNTAINS, QUEBEC Shih, Chang-tai (1973) A PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGISTS AND THETR PRESENT ACTIVITIES IN CANADA REPERTOIRE PROVISOIRE DES ZOOLOGISTES DES INVERTEBRES ET DES TRAVAUX QU'ILS POURSUIVENT PRÉSENTEMENT AU CANADA Faber, Ed., Daniel J. (1974) A HIGH SCHOOL FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDY OF LAC LAPECHE IN GATINEAU PARK, QUÉBEC, DURING MARCH, 1972 Gorham, Stanley W., and Don. E. McAllister (1974) THE SHORTNOSE STURGEON, Acipenser brevirostrum, IN THE SAINT JOHN RIVER, NEW- BRUNSWICK, CANADA, A RARE AND POSSIBLY ENDANGERED SPECIES Vladykov, Vadim D., and Herratt March (1975) DISTRIBUTION OF LEPTOCEPHALI OF THE TWO SPECIES OF Anguilla IN THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, BASED ON COLLECTIONS MADE BETWEEN 1933 AND 1968 Legendre, Vianney, J.G. Hunter, and Don. E. McAllister (1975) FRENCH, ENGLISH AND SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF MARINE FISHES OF ARCTIC CANADA NOMS FRANÇAIS, ANGLAIS ET SCIENTIFIQUES DES POISSONS MARINS DE L'ARCTIQUE CANADTEN McAllister, Don. E. (1975) FISH COLLECTIONS FROM THE OTISH MOUNTAIN REGION, CENTRAL QUÉBEC, CANADA