Facilitating upstream passage of small-bodied fishes: linking the thermal dependence of swimming ability to culvert design

Abstract

Fish passage through road culverts is poorly understood, particularly for small-bodied fishes, despite this information being integral to the restoration of waterway connectivity. We assessed the prolonged swimming performance of a small-bodied fish, empire gudgeon (Hypseleotris compressa; 3.2–7.7 cm total length, TL), and juvenile Australian bass (Percalates novemaculeata; 3.5–7.8 cm TL). Swimming trials were conducted in a hydraulic flume across a range of fixed and increasing velocities in response to acute and long-term thermal treatments. A new statistical approach (Tobit analysis) was used to relate the thermal dependence of swimming endurance to hydraulic characteristics of culverts, providing estimates of maximum water velocity allowing upstream fish passage. Reductions in water temperature of 10°C, similar to those caused by cold-water releases from dams, significantly impaired critical swimming speeds of both species. Traversable water-velocity models identified H. compressa as a weak swimmer, requiring very low water velocities (≤0.10 m s–1 or 2.86 body lengths (BL) s–1) for unrestricted passage, whereas P. novemaculeata was predicted to traverse water velocities of ≤0.39 m s–1 or 12.12 BL s–1. Culvert designs can be improved by limiting water velocities to accommodate weak-swimming fishes and by accounting for the thermal sensitivity of swimming performance.

Swimming performance traits of twenty-one Australian fish species: a fish passage management tool for use in modified freshwater systems

“…Swimming performance data for native Australian fish is sparse (see (Kern et al, 2017;Kopf et al, 2014;Mallen-Cooper, 1992;Rodgers et al, 2017Rodgers et al, , 2014Starrs et al, 2011;Bice and Zampatti, 2005;Whiterod, 2012)), and what does exist has been collected using different protocols and equipment. As an aid for fisheries managers in Australia, we aimed to quantify the swimming performance of twenty-one native fish species.…”

Three‐dimensional numerical simulations of smooth, asymmetrically roughened, and baffled culverts for upstream passage of small‐bodied fish

“…For design and less‐than‐design discharges, the engineering optimization leads to large barrel velocities, which might prevent upstream fish passage during rainfall and run‐off events (Behlke, Kane, Mcleen, & Travis, ). Small‐bodied freshwater fish species are especially affected, as their characteristic endurance speed of less than 0.6 m/s could remain well below design flow velocities (Hurst, Kay, Ryan, & Brown, ; Rodgers et al, ).…”

Stressor interactions in freshwater habitats: Effects of cold water exposure and food limitation on early‐life growth and upper thermal tolerance in white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus

“…The functional capacity of ectotherms is optimised within a limited range of body temperatures resulting from the thermal sensitivity of molecular, cellular and metabolic processes (Hochachka,1967;Hochachka & Somero, 1968). Fish exposed to rapid decreases in temperature outside this range typically exhibit metabolic depression (Ibarz et al, 2007), lowered swimming performance (Fangue, Mandic, Richards, & Schulte, 2007;Rodgers et al, 2014), reduced CTMax (Healy & Schulte, 2012;Schulte, Healy, & Fangue, 2011), and immunosuppression (Bly & Clem, 1992;Le Morvan, Troutaud, & Deschaux, 1998). Low temperatures also have pronounced, depressive effects on fish growth rates (Burel et al, 1996).…”