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Effects of Holding Environment and Exercise Conditioning on Swimming Performance of Southwestern Native Fishes
Author(s) -
Ward David L.,
Hilwig Kara D.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/m03-175.1
Subject(s) - catostomus , sucker , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , predation , stocking , conditioning , biology , environmental science , ecology , zoology , statistics , mathematics
Rare native fish are often reared in ponds or tanks at hatcheries for later stocking into streams with depleted populations. Fish reared in standing water may experience increased stress, downstream displacement, or high predation mortality when released into lotic environments. We compared the swimming performance of captive fish held in standing water, captive fish exercised in flowing water, and wild fish captured from a stream to evaluate the effects of exercise conditioning and holding environment on swimming performance. The swimming performance of flannelmouth sucker Catostomus latipinnis , bonytail Gila elegans , razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus , and spikedace Meda fulgida held in standing water increased by 10, 15, 26, and 40%, respectively, after exercise conditioning in flowing water (10–100 cm/s) for as little as 10 d. Exercising fish reared in standing water may improve swimming performance and increase survival.