Bio-energetics of Prickly Sculpins (Cottus asper)
Prickly Sculpin Fish are a part of the ecosystem of Lake Washington in Washington State. In this study a basic understanding of the Prickly Sculpin use of food as energy will be determined. In establishing an understanding of the Prickly Sculpin use of energy we can formulate a model to determine how much impact these fish have in their environment. This study will include the live capture of the Prickly Sculpin out of Lake Washington and kept at the United States Geological Survey biological division laboratory.
The laboratory is set up to provide us with tanks to separate the fish by weight or length to conduct this study. We can regulate the temperatures to simulate different times of the seasons to provide a complete picture of one year in the life of these fish. We will use a statistical approach to the data to determine the best-fit equations about energy use by the fish.
Our conclusions will be available after thirty to forty days of collecting data from our experiments.
