Spawning migration and larval drift of anadromous North Sea houting (Coregonus oxyrinchus) in the River IJssel, the Netherlands

Abstract

Anadromous North Sea houting (NSH, Coregonus oxyrinchus) was historically distributed in the Wadden Sea extending from Jutland (Denmark) to the Schelde delta (Netherlands). The species has been considered extinct in the Rhine since the 1940s; however, a successful re-introduction programme re-established a selfreproducing population. Telemetry data of adult NSH (NEDAP TRAIL System ® ) were used for a first description of the timing of spawning migrations of NSH in winter, but also suggested that the River IJssel, a lower branch of the Rhine, may serve as spawning ground. This was further proven in spring 2010 with drift net catches of 218 freshly hatched NSH larvae sampled directly upstream from Kampen, where the IJssel discharges into Lake IJsselmeer. These larvae did not differ between controls from a hatchery that were about 12 h of age, indicating that the drifting larvae of NSH must have hatched in upstream areas of the River IJssel.

Patterns and processes in the drift of early developmental stages of fish in rivers: a review

“…high turbidity during flood events) can cause a cessation of diel periodicity in drifting (but see review by Reeves and Galat 2010). Nevertheless, the mechanisms driving diel patterns in drift are uncertain, and results far from unequivocal: for example, some drift studies have not detected temporal patterns (Muth and Schmulbach 1984;Robinson et al 1998;Braaten et al 2012;Borcherding et al 2014) or the influence of water turbidity (Jurajda 1998).…”

“…This information can elucidate patterns and processes associated with spawning and larval production (Zitek et al 2004a;King et al 2005;Braaten et al 2010;Borcherding et al 2014), it may allow forecasting of future year-class-strength (Johnston et al 1995) and provide estimates of stock size of spawning adults (Usvyatsov et al 2013). It also assists in understanding how fishes and their environmentespecially the flow environment-interact.…”

Drift of fish larvae and juveniles in the Lower Rhine before and after the goby invasion

“…Of course, there are also studies that did not find such diel drift patterns, however, these are regularly limited to species for which developmental constrains are not found to depend on diel light levels (e.g. hatching in large rivers and subsequent drifting of coregonid larvae, like North Sea houting, Borcherding et al, 2014).…”

“…As they are positively phototactic, they move towards the surface (Fabricius and Lindroth, 1954;Lindroth, 1957), where they immediately start to drift in running waters (e.g. North Sea houting, Coregonus oxyrinchus, Borcherding et al, 2014). However, there are also many species that exhibit behavioral patterns at certain life stages that are considered as "active elements" within the passive downstream migration (Pavlov, 1994).…”

Fish migration river monitoring plan : Monitoring program on the effectiveness of the FMR at Kornwerderzand

“…Passage success for other diadromous fish such as river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis), European (glass) eel (Anguilla anguilla), Flounder (Platichthys flesus), Twaite shad (Alosa fallax), three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) at this location are still unknown. Other studies focussed more on migration strategies and life history along the coast of the Netherlands including the Afsluitdijk and the Wadden Sea (Deelder 1952, 1958, Dekker and vanWilligen 1997, Dekker 1998, Dekker 2000, Bult and Dekker 2007, Borcherding et al 2008, Borcherding et al 2013, Tulp et al 2013, Phung et al 2015.…”