Frontiers in Marine Science (Nov 2015)
Pattern of movement of introduced pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus in artificial, post-excavation lake
Abstract
A mark-recapture study was conducted between May 2012 and September 2014 to estimate the home range, movement rate and habitat preferences of non-native pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus (Centrarchidae) in Emerald Lake, a deep former chalk pit in north-western Poland. Multiple (19, predominantly monthly) electrofishing runs through the lake’s littoral zone were made to determine the spatial distribution of 359 pumpkinseed fitted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags from two to 674 days after tagging. Of the 43 specimens re-captured (11 males, 11 females, 21 of undetermined sex), 11 pumpkinseed were detected twice and one three times. From the 56 separate detections, 39% were at the place of previous detection, which gives evidence of rather high site fidelity. The mean total for displacements was 43 m (max. = 156 m), especially males (mean = 60 m; min = 17 m, max = 119 m) and for females (mean = 44 m; min = 0 m, max. = 148 m), respectively. The highest rate of relocation was observed for autumn (49%), then consecutively for summer (36%) and for spring (15%). The most preferred sites for pumpkinseed were muddy, shallow underwater shelves overgrown with common reed (Phragmites australis), bulrush (Typha latifolia) and horsetail (Equisetum sp.) located on the east and south-east edges of the lake. This study was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (decision No DEC-2011/01/D/NZ8/01807).
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