42.6-m. seine consisted of a center section (9.8 m. 

 long) of 6-mm. webbing and two end sections (16.4 

 m. long) of 12-mm. webbing. The third type was 

 1 m. deep with 3-mm. webbing and was either 3.1 

 or 6.1 long. 



Most collections of pygmy whitefish were pre- 

 served and processed for various biological data; 

 specimens from the other collections were dis- 

 carded after the catch was recorded. Fork lengths 

 were measured in millimeters and weights in 

 tenths of grams. Most collections were preserved 

 in 10-percent formalin for at least 48 hours before 

 processing. The conversion factor of 0.977 to ac- 

 count for shrinkage was applied to length data on 

 one group of fresh specimens. All lengths given 

 are preserved lengths or equivalents. Because 

 Eschmeyer and Bailey (1955) presented their 

 pygmy whitefish data in total lengths, we deter- 

 mined factors for converting fork lengths to total 

 lengths. Fork length times 1.0777 equals total 

 length for specimens shorter than 100 mm., and 

 fork length times 1.0845 equals total length for 

 specimens longer than 100 mm. 



Biological information determined from indi- 

 vidual specimens included age and growth deter- 

 minations, stomach content analyses, and repro- 

 ductive data. Age and growth were analyzed 

 from scale samples and length frequencies. Stom- 

 ach content analyses were made either on all of 

 the specimens or on random samples from different 

 collections. The occurrence of food items was 

 determined for individual fish, while volumetric 

 analyses were made by combining food items from 

 all fish in a specific collection. Sex ratios and age 

 and v length at maturity were determined for ran- 

 dom samples or for all fish in different collections. 

 Egg content was determined for 85 females by 

 total count. 



DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF 

 PYGMY WHITEFISH 



Pygmy whitefish have the greatest discontinuous 

 range of any fresh-water fish in North America ac- 

 cording to Eschmeyer and Bailey (1955). In ad- 

 dition to its occurrence in Lake Superior of the. 

 Atlantic slope, this species has been recorded from 

 the Columbia River drainage in Washington, 

 Montana, and British Columbia (Schultz, 1936; 

 AWisel and Dillon, 1954) and from the Fraser, 

 Skeena, Yukon, and Mackenzie River systems of 



the Pacific and Arctic slopes (Carl, Clemens, and 

 Lindsey, 1959). It also occurs in both Pacific and 

 Bering Sea drainages of southwest Alaska, hav- 

 ing been reported from the Nushagak (Snyder, 

 1917), Chignik (Kendall, 1917), Naknek (Mer- 

 rell, 1964), and Kvichak (personal communica- 

 tion, Ole A. Mathisen and O. E. Kerns) River 

 systems. Pygmy whitefish probably occur in other 

 Bristol Bay river systems on the Alaska Penin- 

 sula, such as the Ugashik and Egegik, where large 

 lakes appear to provide suitable habitat. 



Eschmeyer and Bailey (1955) concluded that 

 the present disjunct populations of pygmy white- 

 fish are all referable to the same species and most 

 likely represent relicts of a continuously distri- 

 buted species in late Pleistocene that survived in 

 deep lakes after the retreat of Wisconsin glacia- 

 tion. McCart (1963) compared meristic and 

 morphological variation in pygmy whitefish from 

 British Columbia with those from other areas and 

 found the species to be highly variable both within 

 and between populations. 



The sizes attained by pygmy whitefish in dif- 

 ferent geographic areas varied, most likely be- 

 cause of differences in growth rates related to dif- 

 ferent environments. The maximum size reported 

 from Lake Superior was 149 mm. Carl, Clemens, 

 and Lindsey (1959) reported a population of 

 "giant" pygmy whitefish in Maclure Lake, British 

 Columbia. McCart (1963) found pygmy whitefish 

 in this lake as large as 262 mm. The maximum 

 sizes in the Naknek system varied considerably 

 between lakes, ranging from 84 mm. in Brooks 

 Lake to 163 mm. in South Bay (fig. 2). 



NAKNEK SYSTEM 



Pygmy whitefish are widely distributed through- 

 out the Naknek system and were collected in every 

 major water area in the system except Idavain and 

 Murray Lakes and West End (table 1). No at- 

 tempt was made to collect them in Idavain Lake, 

 and only one small-meshed gill-net set, which was 

 unproductive, was made in Murray Lake. Pygmy 

 whitefish may have been collected in 1962 from the 

 West End in tow nets, but the discarded specimens 

 were recorded on field data sheets only as "white- 

 fish." It is likely that they do occur in these three 

 major areas, however. 



The abundance of pygmy whitefish varied 

 throughout the system. The distribution is best 



558 



U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



