Patterns in diel habitat use of fish covering the littoral and pelagic zones in a reservoir

Abstract

We investigated diel habitat use of fish covering the littoral and pelagic zones of the Řimov Reservoir (Czech Republic) and analyzed the influence of predator presence and of shifting feeding habitats in all dominant species and age groups. Our sampling revealed distinctive diel changes of fish distribution in the reservoir, which were age- and species-dependent. The overall abundance of subadult fish in littoral habitats was significantly higher at night than during the daytime. Subadults were almost absent in pelagic habitat during the day and their presence increased during the night, although densities were smaller than in the littoral. Adults preferred the pelagic zone during the day and partly migrated to the littoral at night. Potential fish predators were most likely responsible for small fish avoidance of the littoral and pelagic zones during day. Higher availability of food in the littoral was the most important driver of the high occurrence of subadults at night. Day preference of pelagic zone by adults is most likely caused by higher profitability of this habitat in comparison with littoral. The reasons for night inshore migration of adults are not obvious, but the homogenization of their distribution or resting in the littoral could explain such behavior.