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Sex differences in dogfish behaviour: alternative activity patterns and habitat choice
Author(s) -
Wearmouth V. J.,
Sims D. W.,
Partridge J. C.,
Cuthill I. C.
Publication year - 2003
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.1095-8649.2003.216bv.x
Subject(s) - scyliorhinus canicula , foraging , biology , nocturnal , waves and shallow water , deep water , habitat , ecology , piscivore , fishery , forage , zoology , predation , oceanography , predator , fish <actinopterygii> , geology
Acoustic tracking of wild lesser spotted dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula , in Lough Hyne, a tidal sea‐water lough in southwest Ireland, has demonstrated that the sexes exhibit alternative behaviours. Male dogfish remain active throughout the day and night in deep water (12–24 m), and forage in shallow or deep water by night. Female dogfish, on the other hand, refuge in shallow water caves by day (<3 m), but undertake nocturnal foraging excursions into deep or very shallow water every two or three nights. These nocturnal foraging excursions are comparatively more extensive than those undertaken by the males. Here I report on recent laboratory experiments which have been conducted in an attempt to determine whether the baseline activity patterns of the sexes differ, and therefore, underlie these sex‐based alternative strategies.