Important variability exists in life history attributes among localized populations of Coastal Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii in relation to geographic and environmental factors. Describing the life history of locally adapted populations is critical to successful fishery management and conservation. The number of annuli and distance between circuli in scales (i.e., scale analysis) are often used to describe migratory behavior and age of Coastal Cutthroat Trout, but the accuracy of these estimates is largely unknown. In this study, we compared estimates of age (based on analyses of scale and otolith structure) and migratory patterns (based on scale structure and otolith structure and chemistry) for anadromous Coastal Cutthroat Trout in South Puget Sound, Washington State. We compared 48 paired scale and otolith samples (age range = 1–5 years), and age estimates agreed 79% of the time (average percent error [APE] = 5%; CV = 6%), supporting historical age estimates that were generated using scales. However, the number of migrations between freshwater and marine environments estimated using scales and otoliths agreed 44% of the time (n = 50; APE = 25%; CV = 35%). Comparisons of scales and otoliths indicated that more individuals overwinter in marine waters than previously thought based on scale analysis. The majority of fish in this study (68%) were the progeny of females that matured in marine waters and may be vulnerable to fisheries in the marine environment. Current management actions that prohibit the harvest of Coastal Cutthroat Trout in marine waters may be important for the conservation of small localized populations in South Puget Sound.

中文翻译：

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估计南普吉特海湾的沿海残酷鳟鱼的迁徙行为和年龄：基于鱼鳞与耳石的方法评估

重要的变化沿海山鳟局部人群中存在的生活史属性银钩虾虾与地理和环境因素有关。描述当地适应人群的生活史对成功的渔业管理和保护至关重要。鳞片上的环形数和环形之间的距离（即鳞片分析）通常用于描述迁徙行为和沿海of鳟的年龄，但这些估计的准确性很大程度上未知。在这项研究中，我们比较了华盛顿州南普吉特海湾的濒临灭绝的鳟鱼的年龄估计值（基于对鳞片和耳石结构的分析）和迁徙模式（基于鳞片结构，耳石结构和化学）。我们比较了48个成对的鳞片和耳石样本（年龄范围为1-5年），年龄估计同意了79％的时间（平均百分比误差[APE] = 5％； CV = 6％），支持使用比例尺生成的历史年龄估算值。但是，使用水垢和耳石估计的淡水和海洋环境之间的迁移数量在44％的时间中是一致的（n  = 50；APE = 25％；CV = 35％）。鳞片和耳石的比较表明，海水中越冬的个体比基于鳞片分析的先前认为的要多。在这项研究中，大多数鱼类（68％）是在海水中成熟的雌性后代，在海洋环境中可能易受渔业的影响。目前禁止在海水中捕捞沿海喉鳟的管理措施对于保护南普吉特海湾的少量当地居民可能很重要。