Stress, growth, and osmoregulatory data for the Atlantic Whitefish at different salinities

Many fish populations that would normally migrate between fresh water and
the ocean have become landlocked after river damming. To restore
migration, these populations must retain the physiological capacity to
tolerate life in the ocean, including tolerance to high salinities. The
Atlantic Whitefish (Coregonus huntsmani) is an endangered, ancestrally
anadromous fish that persists as a landlocked form in a single Canadian
watershed. To assess the potential for restoring anadromy in this species
as part of their recovery plan, we examined the effects of salinity on F1
captive-bred juveniles reared at 0, 15, and 30 ppt over 10 months. We
measured growth, condition, and sub-organismal indicators of metabolism
(blood glucose, lactate), osmoregulation (plasma osmolarity), and stress
(cortisol) in 13-month-old fish under cool (12  ±  2 °C) and 16-month-old
fish in warm (17  ±  2 °C) conditions. The data included herein was used
to analyze all measures of performance across salinities and
temperatures.