Factors influencing swimming performance and behaviour of the shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum).

摘要

The focus of this study was to investigate the swimming performance of juvenile shortnose sturgeon under various conditions. The critical swimming (Ucrit) and the endurance tests were used to determine the impacts of flume length, group swimming, and temperature on swimming performance. Results showed that swimming fish in groups of 5 did not affect swimming performance of individuals. Flume length impacted swimming performance, with shorter flumes resulting in lower performance. Temperature was found to have a significant impact on Ucrit values but did not significantly affect endurance performance at swimming speeds higher than Ucrit. Maximum sustainable swimming speed was found to equal ∼80 % of Ucrit while the swimming curve did not display burst swimming. Overall, endurance swimming tests produced highly variable data. Ucrit swimming tests, in contrast, showed low levels of performance variability and were found to be an ideal method for comparing differently conditioned groups of fish.