Diets and preferred habitats of two forms of Arctic char that occur together in lakes of the Cumberland Sound region of Nunavut, Canada

We analyzed the chemical composition of the flesh of Arctic char using fatty acid sand stable isotopes to determine if sea-run and non-sea-run Arctic char had different diets.

Read the open access paper on the Arctic Science website.

The non-sea-run fish had chemical signatures consistent with feeding in fresh water, only, while the sea-run fish fed in salt and fresh water. The sea-run Arctic char fed on a narrower range of food items than those that stayed in fresh water.

Char that were not sexually mature fed on different items than either the sea-run or non-sea-run adults. The differences in diet between the three types varied between different lakes (Iqalugaarjuit and Qasigiyat). Qasigiyat immatures may use the estuarine environment more than Iqalugaarjuit.

This is the first study of diet for different forms of Arctic char in Canada using fatty acid analysis.

Read the paper — Multi-indicator evidence for habitat use and trophic strategy segregation of two sympatric forms of Arctic char from the Cumberland Sound region of Nunavut, Canada by K.L. Ulrich and R.F. Tallman.