Fish Swimming Performance: Effect of Flume Length and Different Fatigue Definitions
Authors: Ashraf, MU, Nyqvist D, Comoglio C, Mozzi G, Domenici P, Marion A, Manes C
Journal: Planetary Sciences. Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-56093-4_1
Abstract:
Swimming performance is important for a range of fish behaviors. Quantifying fish swimming performance in experimental facilities is influenced by channel geometry, size, and length. Also, the lack of a standard fatigue definition potentially affects the assessment of the fish swimming performance. Experiments on juvenile Vairone (Telestes muticellus) were conducted to elucidate the effect of different flume lengths and fatigue definitions on swimming performance estimates using a fixed velocity protocol. Three swimming arena lengths of 15, 30, and 100 cm in an open channel flume were tested under two different mean flow velocities, 35 and 45 cm s−1. The effect of two different criteria for determining time-to-fatigue was studied: (1) untapped fatigue, i.e. fish were considered fatigued when resting on the downstream grid for ≥ 3 s. (2) tapped fatigue, i.e. when fish rested on the grid it was gently tapped to encourage swimming. The third time it returned to the downstream grid, it was considered fatigued. The difference in time to fatigue of Vairone was statistically significant between the two treatment velocities, i.e. 35 and 45 cm s−1. The flume length affected swimming performance based on untapped but not on tapped fatigue definition. It is concluded that the criteria used to define fatigue may have an influence on the conclusions drawn from the fish swimming experiments.
