Dr. Nikolaus Gantner – photos courtesy UNBC

Prince George, B.C. – UNBC researchers have reeled in an exciting discovery.

Adjunct professor Dr. Nikolaus Gantner and his co-researchers have discovered a new form of lake trout.

“What we found is that we actually have a lake trout population that was born and raised in brackish water (water that contains more salinity than fresh water but not as much as salt water) and that is a new finding,” he says. “We knew they were in brackish water as adults but we didn’t know whether or not the fish migrated from fresh water to brackish water as part of their life cycle.”

He said they made their discovery by studying the ear bones of lake trout caught in Husky Lakes in the Northwest Territories.

Is this new form of trout similar to steelhead trout?

“Well steelhead actually move into the ocean so they live in the rivers and also occupy the extra areas of the marine environment but then they come back into the river,” says Gantner.

“But these fish, according to our study, actually live their entire lives in that brackish water.”

Gantner calls the discover significant because it indicates more studies are required to gain a better understanding of the life forms that live in brackish water in Canada and around the world.

“I’m super excited about the finding It’s a very good study by the students and we hope that we contribute to this knowledge.”