title: Behaviour and locomotor activity of a migratory catostomid during fishway passage.
abstract: Fishways have been developed to restore longitudinal connectivity in rivers. Despite their potential for aiding fish passage, fishways may represent a source of significant energetic expenditure for fish as they are highly turbulent environments. Nonetheless, our understanding of the physiological mechanisms underpinning fishway passage of fish is still limited. We examined swimming behaviour and activity of silver redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) during its upriver spawning migration in a vertical slot fishway. We used an accelerometer-derived instantaneous activity metric (overall dynamic body acceleration) to estimate location-specific swimming activity. Silver redhorse demonstrated progressive increases in activity during upstream fishway passage. Moreover, location-specific passage duration decreased with an increasing number of passage attempts. Turning basins and the most upstream basin were found to delay fish passage. No relationship was found between basin-specific passage duration and activity and the respective values from previous basins. The results demonstrate that successful fishway passage requires periods of high activity. The resultant energetic expenditure may affect fitness, foraging behaviour and increase susceptibility to predation, compromising population sustainability. This study highlights the need to understand the physiological mechanisms underpinning fishway passage to improve future designs and interpretation of biological evaluations.
authors: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Ana T
authors: AT
authors: Silva
authors: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Hatry
authors: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Jason D
authors: JD
authors: Thiem
authors: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Lee F G
authors: LF
authors: Gutowsky
authors: Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, Longueuil, Québec, Canada.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Hatin
authors: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors: David Z
authors: DZ
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Jeffery W
authors: JW
authors: Dawson
authors: Katopodis Ecohydraulics Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Katopodis
authors: Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Steven J
authors: SJ
authors: Cooke
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003531:Cypriniformes / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D045483:Rivers; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology