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Swimming performance of juvenile sprat, Sprattus sprattus L., and herring, Clupea harengus L., at different salinities
Author(s) -
Turnpenny A. W. H.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb02911.x
Subject(s) - sprat , clupea , biology , herring , juvenile , fishery , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology
Sustained swimming performance of juvenile sprat, S. sprattus (29–48 mm s.l.), and herring, C. harengus (46–58 mm) was measured in a laboratory flume over a range of salinities from 18 to 33%0 at water temperatures of 16–19°C. Critical swimming speeds (CSS) of both species, relative to body length, were similar, averaging 10–12 body lengths per second (bl s −1 ). There was no apparent relationship with salinity. These swimming speeds are higher than values generally quoted in the literature for sustained swimming of sprat and herring (2–7 bl s −1 ) and it is concluded that the better performance found in this study was a function of improved fish handling techniques, and of the size of fish used since most other studies have dealt with larger, commercial sized fish.