Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES
Volume 64, Issue 4, Pages 672-680Publisher
NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS
DOI: 10.1139/F07-043
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Ocean-going juvenile salmonids heavily infected with salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, have been observed prematurely returning to freshwater. This change in salinity preference may be an attempt either to regain osmotic balance or to remove the lice. For either hypothesis to be true, freshwater habitats must provide infected fish with a higher net fitness than saltwater habitats. The objectives of this study were to use behavioural titration to quantify the energetic cost of different salinities to infected and uninfected pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and to determine if infection alters salinity preference. Results demonstrate that infection changes the salinity preference of fish from saltwater to freshwater. The cost paid by these freshwater-preferring infected fish foraging in saltwater increased with lice density during trials conducted between 13-33 days after infection. Other infection-induced behavioural changes include a 14-fold increase in the jumping frequency of infected versus control fish and a decrease in foraging between 13 and 33 days after infection.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available