Egg Hatchability and Tolerance of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) Fry at Low pH

Hatchability of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) eggs incubated at pH 4.6, 5.0, 5.6 and 8.0 ranged from 76 to 91%. Differential mortality was experienced when subsequent swim-up fry were exposed to a different pH indicating an acclimation effect. This suggests that brook trout fry incubated at lower, but sublethal, pH levels are less likely to experience acid-induced mortality upon emergence than those incubated in spring upwellings.