N. 



IDAVAIN LAKE- 



<«, 



COVILLE- 

 LAKE 



**A 



ff, 



^ 



NAKNEK LAKE 



WEST 

 END 



S OU?, 



!?S> 



NORTH 



ARM 



BROOKS RIVER- 



GROSVENOR RIVER 



BROOKS LAKE 



.** 



,0*' 



& 



& 



RIVER 



ILIUK ARM- 







10 



—i — 



15 



—i— 



20 



MILES 



• LOCALITY RECORDS 



O AREAS WHERE PRINCIPAL COLLECTIONS WERE MADE 



Figure 1. — Naknek River system of southwest Alaska, showing areas where pygmy whitefish were collected. Dots 

 represent locality records ; circled numbers are locations where 10 or more pygmy whitefish were collected in a 

 specific sampling effort. 



or indirectly with juvenile sockeye salmon for food 

 or space. Other fishes, for instance the threespine 

 stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) , have also 

 been characterized as actual or potential competi- 

 tors with juvenile sockeye salmon (Krogius and 

 Krokhin, 1948; Greenbank and Nelson, 1959; and 

 Burgner, 1960). Pygmy whitefish may also act 

 as a buffer between salmon predators and young 

 salmon. 



There is relatively little literature concerning 

 pygmy whitefish, and specific studies on the biol- 

 ogy of this species are few. They were discovered 

 in British Columbia in 1892 and were first col- 

 lected in Alaskan waters in 1912 (Kendall, 1917). 

 Although locality and life history data accumu- 

 lated for several years (Snyder, 1917; Kendall, 

 1921; Schultz, 1941; and Wynne-Edwards, 1947 



and 1952), published material was based on few 

 specimens. Meyers (1932) reported on 21 speci- 

 mens from Chignik Kiver on the Alaska Pen- 

 insula, and Weisel and Dillon (1954) reported on 

 23 pygmy whitefish from western Montana. Esch- 

 meyer and Bailey (1955) collected 1,623 pygmy 

 whitefish from Lake Superior during a 2-year 

 study and reported the discovery of a relatively 

 large population in the lake and described its 

 morphology and life history. Comparisons were 

 made with previous collections from the Pacific 

 slope. McCart (1963) has recently studied the 

 growth and morphology of pygmy whitefish from 

 several British Columbia lakes. 



Pygmy whitefish were first collected in the Nak- 

 nek River system at Brooks Lake in 1957, and ob- 

 servations in Brooks Lake have continued since 



556 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



