Summer Movements within the Fish Community of a Small Montane Stream

Abstract

We studied movements by fishes in Chamberlain Creek, Montana, from 24 July to 16 August 2001. We operated six weirs with two‐way traps and one additional upstream trap, separated by 14–1,596 m, to quantify the timing, direction, and distance of movements and to estimate fish populations in the study reaches. We trapped and marked 567 fish of seven species, including 368 westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi and 172 sculpin (slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus and an unidentified species similar to mottled sculpin C. bairdii). We recaptured 173 westslope cutthroat trout and detected net movements as long as 1,581 m (median, 91 m). Bidirectional movements for 116 westslope cutthroat trout ranged from less than 18 to more than 1,581 m (median, 64 m). Sculpin moved as far as 209 m (median, 26 m). We estimate that 14% of sculpin and 48% of westslope cutthroat trout were mobile during the study. We captured all species more frequently at night or twilight (n = 296) than during the day (n = 83) and more frequently moving downstream (n = 419) than upstream (n = 277). These results demonstrate considerable summer movement by the fish community in a small stream.

Movement and Recolonization of Potomac Sculpin in a Virginia Stream

“…Similar to the results of McCleave (1964), Potomac sculpin showed a preference for upstream movement, and this trend expanded with time. Similar to the Brown and Downhower (1982) and Schmetterling and Adams (2004) with freshwater sculpins, we found the length of Potomac sculpin did not affect movement. Several flood events occurred during our study, and we found, as did Anderson (1985), that floods did not increase movement rates.…”

“…The maximum distance moved was 1,711 m in 75 d. Only Natsumeda (1999) and Schmetterling and Adams (2004) found movement over 200 m (290 m and 209 m, respectively). These long-distance movers can be a key to recolonization of habitats lost to stochastic or anthropogenic events.…”

“…In past freshwater sculpin studies, the percentage of recaptures usually dropped dramatically after 30-60 d (Bailey 1952;McCleave 1964;Brown and Downhower 1982;Warren and Pardew 1998;Natsumeda 1999;Schmetterling and Adams 2004). We tried to balance our sampling design to capture sufficient numbers of marked Potomac sculpin to test movement metrics over both short and long time spans, in addition to increasing the likelihood of capturing long-distance movers.…”

“…Morgan and Ringler (1992) found approximately 80% of marked slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus within the original 50-m release site. Less than 20% of the slimy sculpin migrated, and 80% of those moved less than 25 m. Natsumeda (1999) found that the mean movements of the male and female Japanese fluvial sculpin Cottus pollux was less than 20 m. Petty and Grossman (2004) found that most individual mottled sculpin moved less than 3 m. The longest movement of slimy sculpin and a second, undescribed sculpin species documented by Schmetterling and Adams (2004) was 209 m. Greater distances may have been observed if traps had not obstructed movement. Some stream fishes can be highly mobile, and recolonization by some fish assemblages can occur on the scale of days or weeks (Peterson and Bayley 1993;Lonzarich et al 1998, North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29:196-204, 2009American Fisheries Society 2009DOI: 10.1577 [Article] 2000).…”

Strategies for conserving native salmonid populations at risk from nonnative fish invasions: tradeoffs in using barriers to upstream movement

“…Movements in fall and winter, associated with declining water temperatures and ice formation, have been of similar magnitude Mackay 1995, Jakober andothers 1998). Moreover, mobility is common among cutthroat trout of all ages in small streams, and is not simply attributable to a few wandering individuals Fausch 2003a, Schmetterling andAdams 2004).…”