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The influence of flume length and group size on swimming performance in shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum
Author(s) -
Deslauriers D.,
Kieffer J. D.
Publication year - 2011
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.1095-8649.2011.03094.x
Subject(s) - flume , juvenile , acipenser , biology , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , sturgeon , ecology , mathematics , geometry , flow (mathematics)
The main objectives of this study were to determine optimal methodologies to assess the general swimming performance of juvenile shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum . Swimming densities (group v . individual swimming) and flume length (2 v . 1 m) were altered to verify if any of those variables affected performance ( i.e. time to fatigue) during critical swimming ( U crit ) and endurance tests. Results for both U crit and endurance swimming were not significantly different between fish swum in groups of five or fish swum individually. The U crit values, however, were c. 22% higher for fish swum in a longer flume. Although swimming fish in groups did not improve swimming performance, group swimming lowered the variance of the data. Results also reveal that juvenile A. brevirostrum may not possess an ability to swim at high speeds ( i.e. burst phase) for long periods.