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Schooling and Shelter Seeking Tendencies in Fingerling Channel Catfish
Author(s) -
Brown B. E.,
Inman I.,
Jearld A.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1970)99<540:sassti>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - barbel , catfish , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , channel (broadcasting) , biology , engineering , electrical engineering
Schooling and shelter seeking tendencies in fingerling channel catfish were investigated from 1966 to 1968 by observing fish stocked in plastic pools. The catfish formed aggregations near the bottom of the pools during daylight hours when shelters were absent. On disturbance, flight schools were formed. When shelters were present the fish took shelter during the day; the schools tended to enter the shelter as a whole rather than breaking up. At night fish were out of the shelters, were dispersed, and did not form flight schools when disturbed. When temperatures were below 4 C the fish remained in shelters and aggregations both day and night. Fish with barbels removed did not deviate from the behavior described above. Blinded fish associated with each other and with normal fish in resting aggregations but could not keep up with flight schools. Fish kept in constant darkness remained dispersed.