Abstract
The most utilized method to measure swimming performance of fishes has been the critical swimming speed (UCrit) test. In this test, the fish is forced to swim against an incrementally increasing flow of water until fatigue. Before the water velocity is increased, the fish swims at the water velocity for a specific, pre-arranged time interval. The magnitude of the velocity increments and the time interval for each swimming period can vary across studies making the comparison between and within species difficult. This issue has been acknowledged in the literature, however, little empirical evidence exists that tests the importance of velocity and time increments on swimming performance in fish. A practical application for fish performance is through the design of fishways that enable fish to bypass anthropogenic structures (e.g. dams) that block migration routes, which is one of the causes of world-wide decline in sturgeon populations. While fishways will improve sturgeon conservation, they need to be specifically designed to accommodate the swimming capabilities specific for sturgeons, and it is possible that current swimming methodologies have under-estimated the swimming performance of sturgeons. The present study assessed the UCrit of shortnose sturgeon using modified UCrit to determine the importance of velocity increment (5 and 10 cm s-1) and time (5, 15 and 30 min) intervals on swimming performance. UCrit was found to be influenced by both time interval and water velocity. UCrit was generally lower in sturgeon when they were swum using 5cm s-1 compared with 10 cm s-1 increments. Velocity increment influences the UCrit more than time interval. Overall, researchers must consider the impacts of using particular swimming criteria when designing their experiments.
Highlights
Of the two main methods to measure swimming performance in fish, the critical swimming test (UCrit) is still the tool most widely used by researchers (Hammer, 1995; Plaut, 2001; Kieffer, 2010)
Results from the current study show that both velocity increment and time interval affect UCrit values in shortnose sturgeon
Swimming fish at 10 cm s−1 yield higher UCrit values compared with fish swimming at 5 cm s−1
Summary
Of the two main methods to measure swimming performance in fish, the critical swimming test (UCrit) is still the tool most widely used by researchers (Hammer, 1995; Plaut, 2001; Kieffer, 2010). In this test, the fish is forced to swim against an incrementally increasing velocity of water until fatigue occurs. Most research involving fish exercise physiology is invested in Salmonids mainly due to their importance as a fishery species and the impact of dams on stock populations (Brett and Glass, 1973; Williams and Brett, 1987). There still is a paucity of information regarding the swimming capabilities of sturgeons, when compared to the teleosts (reviewed by Peake, 2004a)
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