Abstract
I investigated the impact of flow and predator stress acclimation on the swimming per- formance and predator avoidance ability of juvenile qingbo Spinibarbus sinensis. The experimental sub- jects were acclimatized for 20 d to nearly still water (control), flowing water, or nearly still water in the presence of their natural predators. Fish housed in flowing water showed a significantly greater ca pacity for prolonged swimming, as suggested by their critical swimming speeds compared to those of the other 2 groups. The group acclimatized to predators reacted more quickly to a predator stimulus, but did not exhibit faster burst (indicated by fast-start escape response) or prolonged swimming speeds. However, both the group housed in flowing water and the group exposed to predators demonstrated signifi- cantly greater predator avoidance capabilities than the control group. Therefore, both treatments sub- stantially improved predator avoidance capabilities, although, apparently, via different mechanisms. This result may have considerable importance in the de- velopment of optimal rearing conditions in hatcheries for fish that are destined to be released into the wild.
Highlights
Swimming performance variables, such as critical swimming speed (Ucrit) and fast-start escape response, are often used as indicators of fitness (Plaut 2001, Kieffer 2010, Gotanda et al 2012)
Ucrit is the swimming speed a fish can maintain over a prolonged period of time and is often used as a relative indicator of prolonged swimming performance
The aim of this study was to test whether prolonged swimming performance, fast-start swimming performance and, predator avoidance capacity changed after acclimation to either changes in flow conditions or predator stress
Summary
Swimming performance variables, such as critical swimming speed (Ucrit) and fast-start escape response, are often used as indicators of fitness (Plaut 2001, Kieffer 2010, Gotanda et al 2012). Fast-start swimming is characterized by rapid acceleration and is fuelled anaerobically (Domenici & Blake 1997). It is one kind of burst swimming that is commonly used by fishes as a component of antipredator behavior, i.e. to evade attack by a potential predator (Webb 1986, Law & Blake 1996, Walker et al 2005); maximum speed during predator-elicited fast-start responses (Vmax) can be used in the evaluation of predator avoidance capacity.
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