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Home sweet home: evidence for nest‐fidelity in the rocky intertidal fish, the shanny L ipophrys pholis
Author(s) -
Martins J.,
Almada F.,
Gonçalves A.,
DuarteCoelho P.,
Jorge P. E.
Publication year - 2017
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/jfb.13171
Subject(s) - intertidal zone , biology , homing (biology) , seasonal breeder , ecology , nest (protein structural motif) , population , rocky shore , fish <actinopterygii> , zoology , fishery , demography , biochemistry , sociology
The ability to be faithful to a particular area or site was analysed in the shanny Lipophrys pholis . Using passive integrated transponders, adults from a population of L. pholis at Cabo Raso, Portugal, were followed over a period of 3 years. The findings showed that site fidelity is a consistent behaviour during the breeding season with specific breeding males being found only in particular sectors within the area, and in specific nests throughout the years. The fact that, in general, L. pholis individuals were absent from the study area during the non‐breeding season and breeding males were recorded returning to the same nests and sectors for consecutive breeding seasons suggests that they have developed excellent homing abilities. Translocation data corroborate this idea showing that breeding males successfully returned to their nests after a displacement of >100 m. Altogether, these findings highlight the relevance of life‐history traits ( e.g. nesting) in the conditioning of site fidelity and homing for this species of rocky intertidal fish, and more importantly, provide evidence for the need of a well‐developed navigational system.