The predictable, temporally and spatially clumped resource
of salmon eggs available on the spawning beaches of Iliamna
Lake is an important factor shaping the ecology of the two
resident sculpin species. They, in turn, appear to have shaped
the spawning behavior of the sockeye salmon, specifically
their compressed spawning season. Through sculpins, an important
exogenous energy source in the form of sockeye eggs
is incorporated into the piscivore populations.