Ontogeny of critical swimming speed of wild-caught and laboratory-reared red drum Sciaenops ocellatus larvae

Abstract

Critical swimming speed (U crit ) provides a useful estimate of maximum swimming performance for fish larvae that can be used to assess transport and migratory potential. We measured U crit of red drum Sciaenops ocellatus larvae through its ontogeny and compared the swimming performance of laboratory-reared larvae to that of wild-caught individuals. U crit increased with ontogeny (size), even though variability in U crit at any ontogenetic state was large. U crit for wild-caught larvae increased from 9.7 to 22.2 cm s -1 over the range of 8.3 to 16.3 mm TL and from 1.1 to 20.5 cm s -1 over the range of 3.0 to 19.1 mm TL for reared larvae. The ontogenetic increase in critical swimming speed occurred in 2 phases -an early phase of rapid improvement and a later phase of slower improvement. This sharp change in the trajectory of swimming performance coincided with important changes in ecology, morphology, and hydrodynamics. During the early phase, larvae were pelagic, their growth was highly allometric, especially in the caudal region, and they swam in the inertial hydrodynamic regime. The onset of the later phase coincided with settlement into seagrass beds, isometric growth, and inertial effects on locomotion. Wild larvae generally exhibited greater values of U crit than reared larvae of a comparable size, but the difference was not statistically significant. The results of this comparison imply that research on reared larvae may provide naturalistic results for swimming performance and that hatchery-produced larvae may perform certain behaviours well when released into the wild.KEY WORDS: Scaling · Ontogeny · Swimming performance · Settlement · Hydrodynamics · Wild larvae · Reared larvae Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 384: [221][222][223][224][225][226][227][228][229][230] 2009 important question is whether the behaviour, or specifically swimming performance, of reared larvae is similar to that of wild larvae. From the available data, the answers are mixed. It is generally agreed that behaviours with a learned component, such as anti-predator behaviour, will differ between wild and reared individuals because larvae from the 2 sources have very different experiences (Olla et al. 1998, Brown & Laland 2001). However, some tested behaviours present contradictory results. For example, reared fish may swim faster, slower, or they may have performances equivalent to wild fish, with ontogenetic variations further complicating this picture (von Westernhagen & Rosenthal 1979, Danilowicz 1996, Smith & Fuiman 2004). The same is true for other behaviours. So, when using results from reared individuals, it is desirable to compare the behaviour of these larvae to that of wild fish, especially if the results will be used to make inferences about fish in nature (Leis 2006).Some fishes that breed in coastal marine waters use estuaries as nursery habitat for their late-stage larvae and juveniles. To enter an estuary, larvae may rely on passive transport (J...

Influence of starvation on the critical swimming behaviour of the Senegalese sole (<i>Solea senegalensis</i>) and its relationship with RNA/DNA ratios during ontogeny

“…Dudley et al, 2000;Guan et al, 2008), reporting an improvement in swimming performance until metamorphosis, after which improvements became slower. In disagreement with other studies Leis et al, 2006aLeis et al, ,b, 2007Leis et al, , 2009aFaria et al, 2009), we found no significant relationship between critical speed and size in any of the feeding treatments. This can be attributed to the small size range of tested larvae, or may be merely indicative of the poor swimming capacities of S. senegalensis larvae.…”

“…In order to determine the potential importance of swimming behaviour, it is fundamental to know how these abilities change during ontogeny (e.g. Leis et al, 2009a,b;Faria et al, 2009). In the present study, a significant decrease in swimming abilities of post-flexion larvae was observed in the three feeding treatments, which implies an ontogeny-related effect.…”

“…Experimental observations also confirmed that larvae did not show depth preference in the chamber. For details on the swimming chamber characteristics see Faria et al (2009). Maximum flow speed was 22 cm s -1 .…”

Effects of starvation on swimming performance and body condition of pre-settlement Sparus aurata larvae

“…The maximum flow speed was 20 cm s -1 . For details on the swimming chamber characteristics see Faria et al (2009).…”

Effects of Slotted Water Control Structures on Nekton Movement within Salt Marshes

“…Water velocities at the WCS slots were too low (<0.2 m/s) to limit the migration of most nekton and only exceeded the swimming capabilities of larvae and small (e.g., <3 cm) juveniles (e.g., Mitchell 1989;Luckenbach and Orth 1992;Faria et al 2009). Individuals migrating out of managed marshes have been reported to be larger than those leaving unmanaged marshes (e.g., penaeid shrimps; Knudsen et al 1989Knudsen et al , 1996, ostensibly due to emigration impedance (resulting in long retention times), reduced predation, or decreased competition in managed marshes (Hoese and Konikoff 1995).…”