1. Multi-species analysis of seasonal movement corridors for Lake Ontario fishes.
- Author
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Rupnik, Adam, Johnson, Timothy B., Fisk, Aaron, Gorsky, Dimitry, Ivanova, Silviya V., Larocque, Sarah, Raby, Graham, and Midwood, Jonathan D.
- Subjects
LAKE ecology ,UNDERWATER acoustic telemetry - Abstract
Understanding the distribution and movement of fishes is critical to effective management, especially in light of on-going ecological change. Acoustic telemetry is a valuable tool for investigating the movement patterns for many economically and ecologically important fish species within the Great Lakes. While many studies have used acoustic telemetry to investigate general movement patterns, few have compared bathymetric depth corridors used for movement amount multiple species across seasons. Further, this analysis resulted from multiple projects collaborating to share detection data from previously tagged fish, reducing overall costs while expanding the scope of the research. From 2018 to 2022, 29 acoustic receivers were deployed in to parallel lines ranging in depth from 5 to 105 meters in east-central Lake Ontario. Thirteen different species were detected with Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush), Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), and Walleye (Sander vitrius) being detected most frequently. While bathymetric depth preferences differed among species, inter-annual differences within species were minimal, offering insight into preferred movement corridors for fishes within the central basin. Understanding these corridors for fish movement offers greater insight into seasonal habitat utilization that can inform traditional and telemetric survey design and our understanding of fish behavioural patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023