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Individual variation in the swimming performance of fishes: An overlooked source of variation in toxicity studies
Author(s) -
Kolok Alan S.,
Plaisance Eric P. P,
Abdelghani Assaf
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620170221
Subject(s) - variation (astronomy) , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , ecology , statistics , environmental science , fishery , mathematics , physics , astrophysics
A commonly used indicator of sublethal stress in fish is impaired swimming performance. Analysis of performance data usually employs a simple comparison, in which the mean of a stressed group of fish is compared to that of a control group. Although such a comparison is satisfactory in many cases, a comparison emphasizing individual variation in performance can yield valuable information unattainable by a means comparison. In this experiment, we determined critical swimming speeds of subadult male fathead minnows before and after exposure to contaminated sediments from Devil's Swamp, Louisiana, USA. The data were then analyzed using a means comparison and an individual approach to illustrate the differences in explanatory power between the two approaches.