The Effect of Thermal Stress on the Physiology of Juvenile Bull Trout

Dr. Analisa Lazaro-Côté and collaborators are testing whether changes in gene expression in the mucus of fish can be used as an early indicator of stress. In the lab, they swabbed the mucus of fish subjected to different temperature treatments to measure the transcript abundance of genes related to stress, metabolism, and immune function. The protected status of bull trout limits the types of tissues that can be collected to assess their health in the wild. However, fish constantly secrete mucus and a sample can be collected non-lethally allowing them to put this method to the test on wild fish captured in the Kakwa River watershed.

This information will help determine in which areas bull trout are experiencing the most stress and may be integrated in stream temperature models being developed in other Water and Fish projects. This can lead to better predictions of suitable bull trout habitat considering our changing climate and increases in human-induced disturbances.