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Sun Compass Orientation of Immature Bluegill
Author(s) -
Goodyear C. Phillip,
Bennett David H.
Publication year - 1979
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(1979)108<555:scooib>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - shore , compass , fishery , predation , vegetation (pathology) , lepomis macrochirus , fish <actinopterygii> , predator , environmental science , ecology , biology , geography , cartography , medicine , pathology
Immature bluegills, Lepomis macrochirus (N = 389), were collected from Par Pond, a 1,120‐hectare impoundment on the United States Department of Energyˈs Savannah River Plant near Aiken, South Carolina, and tested individually by observing their directional movement from the center of a circular testing facility. Bluegills captured 10–20 m from shore in areas lacking extensive submerged vegetation swam in a direction which would have taken them to shore at the area of their capture, whereas those taken from areas having submerged vegetation offshore swam in the direction opposite from shore. The directional responses of fish that were phase‐shifted by 6 hours demonstrated that they were using time‐compensated sun orientation. Fish exposed to a predator oriented in the direction of shore in their training facility, but if no predators had been present during training, moved in the direction of deep water. Present evidence indicates that immature bluegills use their sun compass mechanism in oriented movements and that the observed behavior is probably related to avoidance of their predators.