Our lab studies wild fish populations in order to gain insights into evolutionary biology / reproductive ecology and we apply these finding to help increase the fitness of offspring for reintroduction biology and aquaculture (links to pdf copies can be found in the Publications link above).
Selected Relevant Publications:
Roberts D, Madliger CL, Mokdad A, Firth BL, Pitcher TE. (2025). Evaluating the effects of probiotic supplementation and structural enrichment prior to transportation on the stress physiology of reintroduced juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Environmental Biology of Fishes.
Adeli KA, Pitcher, TE, Ludwig, JM, Rinchard, J, Neff, BD. (2025). Low thiamine concentrations are associated with altered cardiac morphology across reproductive life histories of spawning Chinook salmon. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health.
Adeli KA, Johnson K, and Pitcher TE. (2024). Comparisons of isotopic niche between females and male alternative reproductive tactics of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytcha) from Lake Ontario. Journal of Great Lakes Research 50: 102423.
Roberts D., Madliger C, Mokdad AI, Pitcher TE. (2024). Comparing the stress physiology of hard- and soft-released juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) after transportation for reintroduction. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 44: 1268–1279.
Mokdad AI, Elsheikh M, Sulja OM, Pitcher TE. (2023). Neuromorphological and behavioural effects of early developmental exposure to alarm cue on captive-reared Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 80: 132-141.
Mokdad, AI, Garner, SR, Neff BD, Pitcher TE. (2022). Upstream and downstream dispersal behaviour of hard- and soft-released juvenile Atlantic Salmon. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 42: 438-446.
Presello AJ, Smith JL, Drew TD, Loftus KK, Johnston T, Wilson CC, Pitcher TE. (2021). Induction of Free-Flowing Gametes in Order to Establish a Reintroduction Broodstock of Bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) for Lake Ontario. Advances in Limnology 66: 363-379.
Mitchell K, Garner S, Houde A, Wilson CC, Pitcher TE, Neff BD. (2021). Effects of a low-thiamine diet on reproductive traits in three populations of Atlantic salmon targeted for reintroduction into Lake Ontario. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 78: 135-143.
Warriner T, Semeniuk CA, Pitcher TE, Love OP. (2020). Exposure to exogenous egg cortisol does not rescue juvenile Chinook salmon body size, condition, or survival from the effects of elevated water temperatures. Ecology and Evolution 10: 2466-2477.
Orbach D, Evans JP, Rooke A, Pitcher TE, Purchase C. (2020). No female post-copulatory mediation of sperm swimming characteristics despite limited ability for pre-copulatory mate choice in a polyandrous beach spawning fish. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 33: 449-459.
Lehnert SJ, Christensen K, Vandersteen WE, Sakhrani D, Pitcher TE, Heath JW, Koop BF, Heath DD, Devlin RH. (2019). Carotenoid pigmentation in salmon: Variation in expression at BCO2-I locus controls a key fitness trait affecting red colouration. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (B) 286: 20191588.
Lehnert SJ, Garver KA, Richard J, Devlin RH, Lajoie C, Pitcher TE, Heath DD. (2018). Significant difference in maternal carotenoids provisioning and effects on offspring fitness in Chinook salmon colour morphs. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 31: 1876-1893.
Lehnert SJ, Helou L, Pitcher TE, Heath JW, Heath DD. (2018). Sperm competition, but not major histocompatibility drives differential fertilization success between alternative reproductive tactics in Chinook salmon. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 31: 88-97.
He X, Houde ALS, Pitcher TE, Heath DD. (2017). Genetic architecture of gene transcription in two Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations. Heredity 119: 117-124.
Butts IAE, Prokopchuk G, Kaspar V, Cosson J, Pitcher TE. (2017). Ovarian fluid impacts flagella beating and biomechanical metrics of sperm between alternative reproductive tactics. Journal of Experimental Biology 220: 2210-2217.
Gombar R, Pitcher TE, Lewis JA, Auld J, Vacratsis PO. (2017). Proteomic characterization of seminal plasma from alternative reproductive tactics of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Journal of Proteomics 157: 1-9.
Lehnert SJ, Butts IAE, Flannery E, Peters K, Heath DD, Pitcher TE. (2017). Effects of ovarian fluid on sperm performance and fertilization success of alternative reproductive tactics in Chinook salmon. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 30: 1236-1245.
Lewis JA, Pitcher TE. (2017). The effects of foreign seminal plasma on sperm velocity in the alternative reproductive tactics of Chinook salmon. Theriogenology 92: 24-29.
Lehnert S, Devlin R, Pitcher TE, Semeniuk CAD, Heath DD. (2017). Redder isn't always better: cost of carotenoids in Chinook salmon. Animal Behaviour 24: 1-9.
Makiguchi Y, Ichimura M, Kitayama T, Nemoto T, Kawabata Y, Kitagawa T, Kojima T, Pitcher TE. (2017). Sperm allocation in relation to female size in a semelparous salmonid. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Open Science 3: 12.
Lewis JA, Pitcher TE. (2017). Tactic-specific genetic benefits of polyandry in Chinook salmon. Journal of Fish Biology 90: 1244-1256.
Lehnert SJ, Devlin RH, Heath DD, Pitcher TE. (2017). Post-spawning sexual selection in red and white Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Behavioural Ecology 28: 1-10.
Makiguchi Y, Torao M, Kojima T, Pitcher TE. (2016). Reproductive investment patterns and comparison of sperm quality in the presence and absence of ovarian fluid in alternative reproductive tactics of Masu salmon, Oncorhynchus masou. Theriogenology 86: 2189-2193.
Siddique MAM, Linhart O, Krejszeff S, Zarski D, Pitcher TE, Politis SN, Butts IAE. (2016). Paternal identity impacts embryonic development for two species of freshwater fish. General and Comparative Endocrinology 245: 30-35.
Houde ALS, Wilson CC, Pitcher TE. (2016). Genetic architecture and maternal contributions of early-life survival in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). Journal of Fish Biology 88: 2088-2094.
Lehnert S, Pitcher TE, Devlin R, Heath DD. (2016). Red and white Chinook salmon: genetic divergence and mate choice. Molecular Ecology 25: 1259-1274.
Houde ALS, Pitcher TE. (2016). Fullfact: an R package for the analysis of genetic and maternal variance components from full factorial mating designs. Ecology and Evolution 6: 1656-1665.
Haring M, Johnston T, Weigand M, Fisk AT, Pitcher TE. (2016). Difference in egg quantity and quality among hatchery- and wild-origin Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 73: 737-746.
Houde ALS, Black CA, Wilson CC, Pitcher TE, Neff BD. (2015). Genetic and maternal effects on juvenile survival and fitness-related traits in three populations of Atlantic salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72: 751-758.
Johnson K, Butts IAE, Smith JL, Wilson CC, Pitcher TE. (2015). The effects of inbreeding on sperm quality in lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush. Journal of Applied Ichthyology 31: 62-70.