Methods for studying spatial behaviour of freshwater fishes in the natural environment

By M. Lucas, E. Baras. 2000

437 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Spatial behaviour of fishes in fresh and brackish water ranges in temporal scales between localized diel movements, often associated with foraging and predator evasion, to seasonal or life-cycle related events involving movements between freshwater habitats or freshwater and marine biotopes. Recent technological advances have resulted in dramatic improvements in the range of techniques available for the study of spatial behaviour of freshwater fishes in the natural environment, and broadly may be divided into two categories: capture dependent and capture independent. The former incorporates those methods that rely on sampling marked fish (mark–recapture) or unmarked fish (density estimates, catch per unit effort) over defined scales of time and space in order to derive information on distribution and movement. Captured fish may also be tagged with transmitters that radiate energy, enabling the fish to be tracked and/or environmental data to be gathered. Biochemical analysis of samples from fish, requiring non-destructive sampling (genetic analysis and scale microchemistry) or destructive sampling (otolith microchemistry) may also provide information on migration and ontogenetic processes. Capture independent techniques include visual observation and video techniques, hydroacoustics and automated fish counting. Catch per unit effort and mark–recapture techniques are most efficient where long-term fishery or monitoring studies are in place and data on crude spatial and temporal scales are acceptable. They also have the advantages of low technical requirements and low equipment costs. Where specific management or ecological questions are pertinent, recapture independent techniques may be more appropriate. Telemetric methods can provide high resolution information at the individual level, while hydroacoustics is increasingly providing information at the population level in large lake and river environments. Biochemical methods are becoming increasingly useful in determining the extent of population segregation, where DNA analysis is used, and in the study of migration and ontogenetic changes in behaviour, where otolith microchemistry and stable isotope analysis is used.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0abe12d2d17d0c48e40cf9fb5f0120f9bb5e3669

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Ecology

1. S. Cooke
2. S. Hinch
3. Robert Arlinghaus
4. A. Farrell
5. D. Patterson
6. C. Suski
7. G. Crossin
8. T. Klefoth

In Global and Planetary Change

1. S. Cooke
2. S. Hinch
3. D. Patterson
4. A. Farrell
5. Robert Arlinghaus
6. G. Crossin
7. T. Klefoth
8. K. English

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

1. S. Cooke
2. S. Hinch
3. D. Patterson
4. Robert Arlinghaus
5. A. Farrell
6. G. Crossin
7. K. English
8. G. Kraak

Citations in the corpus

• Coupling non‐invasive physiological assessments with telemetry to understand inter‐individual variation in behaviour and survivorship of sockeye salmon: development and validation of a technique (2005, positive): “Positional telemetry has revolutionized the understanding of animal behaviour and distribution (Priede & Swift, 1992), particularly in aquatic environments where conventional visual observation techniques are limited (Lucas & Baras, 2000).”
• Genes in Streams: Using DNA to Understand the Movement of Freshwater Fauna and Their Riverine Habitat (2009, background): “Direct approaches to addressing this central question in stream ecology have included mark-recapture studies (Lucas and Baras 2000); stable isotope labeling (MacNeale et al. 2005); and monitoring of new habitats, either by placing pieces of new habitat in streams (Mackay 1992) or by assessing…”
• Tracking animals in freshwater with electronic tags: past, present and future (2013, background): “A variety of electronic tagging tools have been used in freshwater for the study of vertebrates and some of the larger invertebrates (summarized in [15-18]; See Table 1).”
• Effective monitoring of freshwater fish (2019, methodology): “…the entity being measured, this might involve various fish capture techniques (see Zale et al., 2012), methods to assess fish spatial behaviour (see Lucas & Baras, 2000), genetic methods (Lundqvist et al., 2010), or more recent approaches such as citizen science and the use of social media…”
• Assessment of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) behaviour and activity at multiple spatial and temporal scales utilizing a whole-lake telemetry array (2007, background): “Profiles of fish swimming speeds are typically generated by manually tracking telemetered fish to determine rates of movement ( Lucas & Baras, 2000 ) or using physiological telemetry to assess muscle activity or tail beats (Demers et al., 1996; Cooke et al., 2004b).”
• Effects of suture material on incision healing, growth and survival of juvenile largemouth bass implanted with miniature radio transmitters: case study of a novice and experienced fish surgeon (2003, background): “…fax: þ1 604 822 9102; email: scooke@interchange.ubc.ca doi:10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00119.x,availableonlineathttp://www.blackwell-synergy.com 1366 # 2003TheFisheries Society of theBritish Isles for monitoring the movement and habitat use of an individual fish (Winter, 1996; Lucas & Baras, 2000).”
• Contrasting pike (Esox lucius L.) movement and habitat choice between summer and winter in a small lake (2008, positive): “…and Horticulture, Institute of Animal Sciences, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany e-mail: Arlinghaus@IGB-Berlin.De Positional telemetry by either radio or acoustic transmitters is suited to analyze behaviour and habitat choice in fish (Lucas & Baras, 2000).”
• The Use of Two New Portable 12‐mm PIT Tag Detectors to Track Small Fish in Shallow Streams (2005, background): “Its use in ichthyological research has increased rapidly in the past two decades, largely in response to technological improvements (review in Lucas and Baras 2000 ).”
• Advancing the surgical implantation of electronic tags in fish: a gap analysis and research agenda based on a review of trends in intracoelomic tagging effects studies (2011, methodology): “... Stokesbury et al. 2007; Keefer et al. 2008), to determine natural and human-influenced mortality (e.g., bycatch [e.g., Donaldson et al. 2008], interaction with hydroelectric dams and turbines [e.g., Stier and Kynard 1986; Brown et al. 2006]), to evaluate habitat use and distribution of fish spat”
• The Use of Electronic Tags in Fish Research - An Overview of Fish Telemetry Methods (2013, methodology): “…electronic tracking technology (telemetry) has provided unique tools to reveal novel information on animal behavior both in terrestrial and aquatic habitats, which is knowledge that few decades ago was impossible to achieve based on traditional methods (Lucas and Baras, 2000; Adams et al., 2012).”
• The impact of catch-and-release angling on short-term behaviour and habitat choice of northern pike (Esox lucius L.) (2008, background): “Free swimming behaviour of fish can be studied by conventional locational telemetry (Lucas & Baras, 2000), but only in several recent accounts has this technology been applied to studies looking at catch-and-release angling (Cooke et al., 2002).”