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A Laboratory Evaluation of Tagging‐Related Mortality and Tag Loss in Juvenile Humpback Chub
Author(s) -
Ward David L.,
Persons William R.,
Young Kirk L.,
Stone Dennis M.,
Vanhaverbeke David R.,
Knight William K.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1080/02755947.2014.986345
Subject(s) - juvenile , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , biology , zoology , toxicology , ecology
We quantified tag retention, survival, and growth in juvenile, captive‐reared Humpback Chub Gila cypha marked with three different tag types: (1) Biomark 12.5‐mm, 134.2‐kHz, full duplex PIT tags injected into the body cavity with a 12‐gauge needle; (2) Biomark 8.4‐mm, 134.2‐kHz, full duplex PIT tags injected with a 16‐gauge needle; and (3) Northwest Marine Technology visible implant elastomer (VIE) tags injected under the skin with a 29‐gauge needle. Estimates of tag loss, tagging‐induced mortality, and growth were evaluated for 60 d with each tag type for four different size‐groups of fish: 40–49 mm, 50–59 mm, 60–69 mm, and 70–79 mm TL. Total length was a significant predictor of the probability of PIT tag retention and mortality for both 8‐mm and 12‐mm PIT tags, and the smallest fish had the highest rates of tag loss (12.5–30.0%) and mortality (7.5–20.0%). Humpback Chub of sizes 40–49 mm TL and tagged with VIE tags had no mortality but did have a 17.5% tag loss. Growth rates of all tagged fish were similar to controls. Our data indicate Humpback Chub can be effectively tagged using either 8‐mm or 12‐mm PIT tags with little tag loss or mortality at sizes as low as 65 mm TL. Received July 24, 2014; accepted October 31, 2014