Habitat Utilization and Movement of Fish as Determined by Raido-Telemetry

Abstract

A b s t r a c t The h a b i t a t u t i l i z a t i o n and movements of l a r g e n o u t h b a s s (Micro--p t e r u s s a l m o i d e s ) , y e l l o w p e r c h ( P e r c a f l a v e s c e n s ) , b l u e g i l l (Lepomis macrochirus) and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) were s t u d i e d v i a r a d i o t e l e m e t r y . H a b i t a t u t i l i z a t i o n was c a l c u l a t e d a s t h e p e r c e n t a g e s of a t r a c k i n g -day each f i s h o c c u r r e d i n each h a b i t a t , weighted by t h e proport i o n a t e a r e a of e a c h h a b i t a t . The f i v e h a b i t a t s were heavy macrophyte (H), p r i m a r i l y Myriophyllum s p . ; l i g h t macrophyte ( L ) , p r i m a r i l y Potamogeton s p . ; sand ( S ) ; open w a t e r (O), having a n approximate minimum depth of 6 m and no macrophytes; e c o t o n e ( E ) , which was d e f i n e d a s 1.5 m on each s i d e of a boundary between macrophyte b e d s and sand o r open water. Movement speeds were determined by c a l c u l a t i n g t h e d i s t a n c e between two t r a c k e d l o c a t i o n s a t f i v e minute i n t e r v a l s . We examined h a b i t a t u t i l i z a t i o n of largemouth b a s s (Micropterus salmoides), yellow perch ( P e r c a f l a v e s c e n s ) , b l u e g i l l (Lepomis m a c r o c h i r u s ) , and pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) s i n c e such i n f o r m a t i o n could show which h a b i t a t s were most i m p o r t a n t t o t h e s e f i s h . We d e f i n e d h a b i t a t u t i l i z a t i o n i n a manner s i m i l a r t o t h a t employed i n s t u d i e s of mammals and b i r d s ( P i e t z and T e s t e r , 1982; S i n g e r e t a l . , 1981; and Gilmer e t a l . , 1975). I t was t h e p e r c e n t a g e of a t r a c k i n g day t h a t each f i s h occurred i n each h a b i t a t , weighted by t h e p r o p o r t i o n a t e a r e a of each h a b i t a t . While many f a c t o r s c o u l d i n f l u e n c e h a b i t a t u~i l i z a t i o n of t h e s e f i s h , p a r t i c u l a r l y w a t e r t e m p e r a t u r e (Warden and L o r i o , 1975; Ross and Winter,

Activity patterns of largemouth bass in a subtropical US reservoir

“…Largemouth bass in large systems, such as in this study, are relatively sedentary and spend much of their time in small (<5 ha) areas despite an abundance of available habitat. The restricted movement of largemouth bass observed in this study illustrates the relevance of largemouth bass behaviour studies conducted in smaller systems (Savitz et al. 1983b; Colle et al.…”

“…Home ranges of largemouth bass were similar to those reported in similar systems (Lyons 1995). Home ranges of largemouth bass were much smaller (0.05–5 ha) in systems <120 ha; but fish in these studies were often tracked over a much shorter time period (Winter 1977; Savitz, Fish & Weszely 1983b; Wildhaber & Neill 1992). All of the fish tracked in this study remained in a relatively small area (generally < 100 ha) of a much larger embayment (2343 ha), despite little or no obstructions to greater movements.…”

Spatiotemporal patterns of fish community composition in Great Lakes drowned river mouths

“…Centrarchids, such as bluegill and pumpkinseed, prefer dense macrophyte cover to avoid predation (Savitz et al. ; Sass et al. ), and these species, along with their primary predator, largemouth bass, were the three most prominent species in Lincoln Lake.…”

“…Lincoln Lake had low turbidity and the highest macrophyte cover, which appeared to strongly associate with its fish assemblage. Centrarchids, such as bluegill and pumpkinseed, prefer dense macrophyte cover to avoid predation (Savitz et al 1983;Sass et al 2006), and these species, along with their primary predator, largemouth bass, were the three most prominent species in Lincoln Lake. The final group identified in our study, consisting of Muskegon, Pentwater, White and Pigeon lakes, had relatively similar fish assemblages.…”

Habitat and home range fidelity in a trophically dimorphic pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) population

“…However, disentangling these hypotheses presents an interesting challenge given a potential problem of scaling. Previous data suggest that pumpkinseeds may inhabit a relatively small home range (~3,000 m 2 ) and exhibit very little diurnal movement Savitz et al 1983). Furthermore, the spatial scale at which the macrohabitat (i.e., littoral and limnetic) changes exceeds the linear distance within a given home range.…”