Migration of green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the Sacramento River

Heublein, Joseph C.; Kelly, John; Crocker, Carlos E.; Klimley, A. Peter; Lindley, Steven T.

doi:10.1007/s10641-008-9432-9

Cited by 62 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Furthermore, it is unlikely that any sturgeon died as a result of the operation. In a later study of the species' movements region-wide, 96 green sturgeon were tagged using similar tagging procedures with no known mortality (Heublein et al 2009). A description of the entire tagging study, including analysis of observed green sturgeon distribution and movements with respect to environmental parameters such as depth, temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, Table 1 Results of comparison of measured San Francisco Bay tidal flows to those predicted by current model.…”

Section: Fish Orientation To Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating the swimming movements of green sturgeon to the movement of water currents

Kelly

Klimley

2011

Environ Biol Fish

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Animals swimming in tidal environments continuously interact with water currents which may either hinder or aid their movement. It is difficult to observe the orientation of an organism relative to the current when it is swimming in the wild without specialized telemetry; however, using the total recorded movement vector and the current vector, one can use vector analysis to calculate the actual movement of the animal. Here, we apply this method to six tracks of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) in the San Francisco Estuary, using current vectors derived from a hydrodynamic model. Three movements were near the surface in deeper, high-current regions of the bay and three were near the bottom in shallow, low-current areas. The total displacement over ground was faster at the surface (0.9 m sec −1 versus 0.5 m sec −1 ) and occurred in stronger currents (0.7 m sec −1 versus 0.4 m sec −1 ), but the swimming speeds of the fish were similar between surface and bottom movements (0.5 m sec −1 versus 0.6 m sec −1 ). All surface movements were in the direction of the current, and two of the fish also oriented closely to the flow. In contrast, none of the three benthic movements were in the direction of the current, and two were oriented opposite to the flow. It seems plausible that green sturgeon orient to and make use of water currents to efficiently move through tidal habitats, riding the flow in high-current areas, and moving independently of, or even into, the flow in slower currents.

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Section: Fish Orientation To Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating the swimming movements of green sturgeon to the movement of water currents

Kelly

Klimley

2011

Environ Biol Fish

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“…Ultrasonic tags have been used to track the movements of salmon (Welch et al 2008) and sturgeon (Kelly et al 2007; Heublein et al 2009) in rivers and coastal-estuarine environments, to track the short-scale movements of several sharks (Holland et al 1992; Klimley 1993; Klimley et al 2002; Klimley and Nelson 1984) and rays (Klimley et al 2005), and to study site fidelity of sharks at seamounts (Klimley and Nelson 1984) and tuna at fish aggregating devices (FADs) (Klimley and Holloway 1999). In 2006, a regional network of scientists in the ETP deployed arrays of hydrophones at sites around Cocos, Galapagos, and Malpelo Islands (see www.migramar.org) and began an ambitious study to understand local and regional movement patterns of several shark species, including scalloped hammerhead sharks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hotspots within hotspots? Hammerhead shark movements around Wolf Island, Galapagos Marine Reserve

et al. 2010

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Are pelagic species such as sharks and tuna distributed homogenously or heterogeneously in the oceans? Large assemblages of these species have been observed at seamounts and offshore islands in the eastern tropical Pacific, which are considered hotspots of pelagic biodiversity. Is the species distribution uniform at these hotspots or do species aggregate at a finer spatial scale at these sites? We employed three techniques to demonstrate that the aggregations of scalloped hammerhead sharks, Sphyrna lewini, and other pelagic species were confined to the southeastern corner of Wolf Island in the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Coded ultrasonic transmitters were placed on individuals at this site and at another aggregation site at Darwin Island, separated from Wolf by 40 km, and they were detected by monitors moored at the southeastern corner of Wolf Island and rarely by monitors deployed at other sites around the island. Hammerhead sharks, carrying depth-sensing continual transmitters, were tracked for two-day periods in a vessel and shown to reside a disproportionately large fraction of their time at the southeastern corner. Visual censuses were carried out seasonally at the eight monitor sites at Wolf Island, recording the abundance of one species of tuna, four species of jacks, and a number of other species. The highest diversity and abundance of these species occurred in the southeastern corner of the island. Our results support the use of hammerhead sharks as indicator and umbrella species for pelagic hotspots on a fine scale.

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“…We also must determine how residency time in a particular habitat affects element deposition [182]. Sturgeon are capable of fairly rapid movements between habitat types [79], [186], [187] and it is uncertain if these movements would be represented accurately in otolith or pectoral fin ray elemental “fingerprints.” Also, it will be important to characterize the rate at which elemental profiles within particular locations vary, as rapid rates of naturally or anthropogenically induced environmental change may reduce our ability to accurately reconstruct the movement of individuals over longer timeframes using otoliths and fin rays [188]. These uncertainties should be addressed prior to a broad application of microchemical techniques toward addressing questions regarding sturgeon movement and habitat preferences.…”

Section: Research Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Green Sturgeon were also shown to have diverse patterns of migration within and among populations. Within the Sacramento River, acoustic tags revealed that a seasonal water diversion dam was a serious impediment to the spawning migration of Green Sturgeon [37]. Habitat data associated with tag detections was used to gain further insight into freshwater [38] and fine− [39] and coarse-scale [40] marine habitat preferences and seasonal patterns of distribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research Tools to Investigate Movements, Migrations, and Life History of Sturgeons (Acipenseridae), with an Emphasis on Marine-Oriented Populations

Nelson¹,

Doukakis

Lindley

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

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Worldwide, sturgeons (Acipenseridae) are among the most endangered fishes due to habitat degradation, overfishing, and inherent life history characteristics (long life span, late maturation, and infrequent spawning). As most sturgeons are anadromous, a considerable portion of their life history occurs in estuarine and marine environments where they may encounter unique threats (e.g., interception in non-target fisheries). Of the 16 marine-oriented species, 12 are designated as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and these include species commercially harvested. We review important research tools and techniques (tagging, electronic tagging, genetics, microchemistry, observatory) and discuss the comparative utility of these techniques to investigate movements, migrations, and life-history characteristics of sturgeons. Examples are provided regarding what the applications have revealed regarding movement and migration and how this information can be used for conservation and management. Through studies that include Gulf (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) and Green Sturgeon (A. medirostris), we illustrate what is known about well-studied species and then explore lesser-studied species. A more complete picture of migration is available for North American sturgeon species, while European and Asian species, which are among the most endangered sturgeons, are less understood. We put forth recommendations that encourage the support of stewardship initiatives to build awareness and provide key information for population assessment and monitoring.

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Migration of green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, in the Sacramento River

Abstract: Adult green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, were collected in San

Cited by 62 publications

References 10 publications

Relating the swimming movements of green sturgeon to the movement of water currents

Relating the swimming movements of green sturgeon to the movement of water currents

Hotspots within hotspots? Hammerhead shark movements around Wolf Island, Galapagos Marine Reserve

Research Tools to Investigate Movements, Migrations, and Life History of Sturgeons (Acipenseridae), with an Emphasis on Marine-Oriented Populations

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