Migration, homing and spatial ecology of common carp in interconnected lakes

Abstract

The common carp, Cyprinus carpio, is a large, long‐lived, fecund and mobile cyprinid, which evolved in complex inter‐braided Ponto‐Caspian rivers that experience both springtime flooding and freezing winters. Studies suggest adults often move to productive, shallow lakes and floodplains to spawn because they often lack egg predators and then return to deeper normoxic waters to overwinter. Whether these movements involve individuals consistently selecting, or homing to, the same spawning and refuge lakes as part of a strategy benefiting their reproductive success is unknown. To address this question, we examined the movements of 67 radio‐tagged adult carp for 3 years in a watershed with 11 interconnected lakes. Carp were tagged and released into a centrally located, normoxic deep lake in spring and fall. Each spring over 95% of its adults left via a single stream and swam into one of 5 shallow lakes, with most individuals (84%) selecting the same lake(s) in which to spawn each year (median Bhattacharyya affinity coefficient of similarity of 0.82). Young were later found in those lakes without egg predators, which cannot survive winter anoxia. After spawning, carp spent summers moving between productive lakes in an individualistic fashion, presumably foraging, with most (89%) eventually returning to the same deep lake to overwinter (median Bhattacharyya affinity of 1.0). These movements appear to reveal a life‐history tactic involving seasonal homing migration, first to a spawning location and later to winter refuges, that is well adapted to productive but highly heterogeneous and interconnected freshwater environments.

Movements of a model fish, the common carp, through a generic Mississippi River lock and dam demonstrate how fish swimming performance, behavior, and discharge‐driven flow‐fields determine fish passage rates in ways that can be predicted and modified using fish passage models

“…We caught, tagged, transplanted, and released groups of 25 adult common carp below LD8 every 2 weeks and then monitored their distribution and subsequent passage through its tainter gates, roller gates, and lock using an array of upstream and downstream receivers. Trials started after the springtime migration/spawning period (June) of the common carp and ended in fall (October) before their winter return migration (Banet, Fieberg, & Sorensen, 2021; Irvine, 1992), thereby removing seasonal movement as a major confounding factor. The common carp was chosen as our model species because it has a known swimming performance that is similar to that of many fish including the bigheaded carp (Finger et al, 2020), it homes if displaced while also exhibiting upstream movement patterns similar to non‐translocated common carp (Banet et al, 2021; Finger et al, 2020), it is commonly found near LD8 (bigheaded carp are not), and it is invasive worldwide (Sorensen & Bajer, 2011).…”

“…Trials started after the springtime migration/spawning period (June) of the common carp and ended in fall (October) before their winter return migration (Banet, Fieberg, & Sorensen, 2021; Irvine, 1992), thereby removing seasonal movement as a major confounding factor. The common carp was chosen as our model species because it has a known swimming performance that is similar to that of many fish including the bigheaded carp (Finger et al, 2020), it homes if displaced while also exhibiting upstream movement patterns similar to non‐translocated common carp (Banet et al, 2021; Finger et al, 2020), it is commonly found near LD8 (bigheaded carp are not), and it is invasive worldwide (Sorensen & Bajer, 2011). By repeatedly transplanting the same number of common carp, we ensured that we had a relatively constant number of carp moving upstream throughout each study period.…”

Spatial ecology of non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Lake Ontario with implications for management

“…Further, Kim and Mandrak (2016) found that common carp dispersed from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie through a system of locks. Preliminary evidence suggests that common carp move large distances in Lake Ontario (Midwood et al 2019) in a similar manner as other invaded systems (Jones and Stuart 2007;Banet et al 2021); however, these results have not been fully explored or confirmed. Currently, it is not known how mobile common carp are within Lake Ontario (Midwood et al 2019), or the extent to which individuals undertake partial migration (Banet et al 2021), thereby hindering coordinated management measures throughout the basin.…”

“…Preliminary evidence suggests that common carp move large distances in Lake Ontario (Midwood et al 2019) in a similar manner as other invaded systems (Jones and Stuart 2007;Banet et al 2021); however, these results have not been fully explored or confirmed. Currently, it is not known how mobile common carp are within Lake Ontario (Midwood et al 2019), or the extent to which individuals undertake partial migration (Banet et al 2021), thereby hindering coordinated management measures throughout the basin. Additionally, some observations indicate that common carp within Toronto Harbour (TH) may be part of a larger metapopulation (Midwood et al 2019).…”

“…Previous telemetry studies revealed that common carp access shallow areas to spawn during spring, are capable of complex, extensive movements in summer (Jones and Stuart 2007;Banet et al 2021), and form aggregations at deep overwintering sites (Bajer et al 2011;Watkinson et al 2021). Further, Kim and Mandrak (2016) found that common carp dispersed from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie through a system of locks.…”