Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pelvic fin removal modifies escape trajectory in a teleost fish

  • Original Article
  • Biology
  • Published:
Fisheries Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Pelvic fin removal has been used in mark-recapture studies and non-lethal tissue samplings; however, there is limited knowledge on the effect of fin removal on the locomotor performance in fish. We investigated the effect of pelvic fin removal on the escape response in hatchery-reared black-spot tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii. The left pelvic fins of the tuskfish were removed, and the escape response of the modified fish was compared with control fish. The modified fish and the control fish showed C-starts that consisted of an initial bend (stage 1) and a return tail flip (stage 2). The stage 1 angle and the escape trajectory angle were greater in modified fish that turned to the side missing the pelvic fin, compared with unmodified control fish. In contrast, when the modified fish turned towards the side with the intact pelvic fin, the angles were similar to the control fish. Since both pelvic fins were extended during the stage 1 turn, it is likely that they allowed maintenance of the turning angles that determine the escape trajectory. These results suggest that pelvic fin removal has potential to negatively affect predator evasion through the modification of the escape trajectory in fish.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Coble DW (1967) Effects of fin-clipping on mortality and growth of yellow perch with a review of similar investigations. J Wildl Manag 31:173–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Parker RR, Black EC, Larkin PA (1963) Some aspects of fish-marking mortality. Int Comm Northwest Atl Fish Spec Publ 4:117–122

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ricker WE (1949) Effects of removal of fins upon the growth and survival of spiny-rayed fishes. J Wildl Manag 13:29–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Woodall LC, Jones R, Zimmerman B, Guillaume S, Stubbington T, Shaw P, Koldewey HJ (2012) Partial fin-clipping as an effective tool for tissue sampling seahorses, Hippocampus spp. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 92:1427–1432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Tronquart NH, Mazeas L, Reuilly-Manenti L, Zahm A, Belliard J (2012) Fish fins as non-lethal surrogates for muscle tissues in freshwater food web studies using stable isotopes. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 26:1603–1608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zymonas ND, McMahon TE (2009) Comparison of pelvic fin rays, scales and otoliths for estimating age and growth of bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus. Fish Manage Ecol 16:155–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Petersson E, Rask J, Ragnarsson B, Karlsson L, Persson J (2014) Effects of fin-clipping regarding adult return rates in hatchery-reared brown trout. Aquaculture 422–423:249–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Vincent-Lang D (1993) Relative survival of unmarked and fin-clipped coho salmon from Bear Lake, Alaska. Progress Fish Cult 55:141–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Harris JE (1938) The role of the fins in the equilibrium of the swimming fish II. The role of the pelvic fins. J Exp Biol 15:32–47

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wagner CP, Einfalt LM, Scimone AB, Wahl DH (2009) Effects of fin-clipping on the foraging behavior and growth of age-0 muskellunge. N Am J Fish Manag 29:1644–1652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Walker JA, Ghalambor CK, Griset OL, McKenney D, Reznick DN (2005) Do faster starts increase the probability of evading predators? Funct Ecol 19:808–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Domenici P, Blake RW (1997) The kinematics and performance of fish fast-start swimming. J Exp Biol 200:1165–1178

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Webb PW (1977) Effects of median fin amputation on fast-start performance of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). J Exp Biol 68:123–135

    Google Scholar 

  14. Weihs D (1973) The mechanism of rapid starting of slender fish. Biorheology 10:343–350

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Tytell ED, Lauder GV (2008) Hydrodynamics of the escape response in bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. J Exp Biol 211:3359–3369

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Chadwell BA, Standen EM, Lauder GV, Ashley-Ross MA (2012) Median fin function during the escape response of bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). II: fin-ray curvature. J Exp Biol 215:2881–2890

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Chadwell BA, Standen EM, Lauder GV, Ashley-Ross MA (2012) Median fin function during the escape response of bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). I: fin-ray orientation and movement. J Exp Biol 215:2869–2880

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Standen EM (2008) Pelvic fin locomotor function in fishes: three-dimensional kinematics in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). J Exp Biol 211:2931–2942

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sato T, Kawabata Y, Okuzawa K, Asami K, Kobayashi M, Yamada H, Fukuoka K, Yoseda K, Takebe T, Hirai N, Akita Y, Nanami A, Ohta I, Suzuki N, Chimura M, Aonuma Y, Katoh M, Shibuno T, Teruya K (2013) Stock enhancement in black-spot tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii. Bull Fish Res Agency 37:65–83 (in Japanese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Nakagawa M, Okouchi H, Adachi J, Hattori K, Yamashita Y (2007) Effectiveness of stock enhancement of hatchery-released black rockfish Sebastes schlegeli in Yamada Bay—evaluation by a fish market survey. Aquaculture 263:295–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Soto CG, Burhanuddin (1995) Clove oil as a fish anaesthetic for measuring length and weight of rabbitfish (Siganus lineatus). Aquaculture 136:149–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Dadda M, Koolhaas WH, Domenici P (2010) Behavioural asymmetry affects escape performance in a teleost fish. Biol Lett 6:414–417

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Lefrancois C, Shingles A, Domenici P (2005) The effect of hypoxia on locomotor performance and behaviour during escape in Liza aurata. J Fish Biol 67:1711–1729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Domenici P, Blake RW (1991) The kinematics and performance of the escape response in the angelfish (Pterophyllum eimekei). J Exp Biol 156:187–205

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kawabata Y, Asami K, Kobayashi M, Sato T, Okuzawa K, Yamada H, Yoseda K, Arai N (2011) Effect of shelter acclimation on the post-release survival of hatchery-reared black-spot tuskfish Choerodon schoenleinii: laboratory experiments using the reef-resident predator white-streaked grouper Epinephelus ongus. Fish Sci 77:79–85

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Walker JA (1998) Estimating velocities and accelerations of animal locomotion: a simulation experiment comparing numerical differentiation algorithms. J Exp Biol 201:981–995

    Google Scholar 

  27. Eaton RC, Emberley DS (1991) How stimulus direction determines the trajectory of the Mauthner-initiated escape response in a teleost fish. J Exp Biol 161:469–487

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Foreman MB, Eaton RC (1993) The direction change concept for reticulospinal control of goldfish escape. J Neurosci 13:4101–4113

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Domenici P, Booth D, Blagburn JM, Bacon JP (2009) Escaping away from and towards a threat: the cockroach’s strategy for staying alive. Commun Integr Biol 2:497–500

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Turesson H, Satta A, Domenici P (2009) Preparing for escape: anti-predator posture and fast-start performance in gobies. J Exp Biol 212:2925–2933

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Grafen A, Hails R (2002) Modern statistics for the life sciences. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  32. Presnell B, Morrison SP, Littell RC (1998) Projected multivariate linear models for directional data. J Am Stat Assoc 93:1068–1077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Marchetti GM, Scapini F (2003) Use of multiple regression models in the study of sandhopper orientation under natural conditions. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 58:207–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Eaton RC, Lee RKK, Foreman MB (2001) The Mauthner cell and other identified neurons of the brainstem escape network of fish. Prog Neurobiol 63:467–485

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Jayne BC, Lauder GV (1993) Red and white muscle activity and kinematics of the escape response of the bluegill sunfish during swimming. J Comp Physiol A 173:495–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Webb PW (1978) Fast-start performance and body form in seven species of teleost fish. J Exp Biol 74:211–226

    Google Scholar 

  37. Eaton RC, Bombardieri RA, Meyer DL (1977) Mauthner-initiated startle response in teleost fish. J Exp Biol 66:65–81

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Standen EM (2010) Muscle activity and hydrodynamic function of pelvic fins in trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). J Exp Biol 213:831–841

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Domenici P, Blagburn JM, Bacon JP (2011) Animal escapology I: theoretical issues and emerging trends in escape trajectories. J Exp Biol 214:2463–2473

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Arnott SA, Neil DM, Ansell AD (1999) Escape trajectories of the brown shrimp Crangon crangon, and a theoretical consideration of initial escape angles from predators. J Exp Biol 202:193–209

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Weihs D, Webb PW (1984) Optimal avoidance and evasion tactics in predator–prey interactions. J Theor Biol 106:189–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge G. M. Marchetti at the Department of Statistics, University of Florence, for kindly providing the custom R program for the spherically projected multivariate linear (SPML) model analysis. We also sincerely thank G. N. Nishihara for English editing, and H. Nishizawa, J. Okuyama, K. Tsurui, T. Noda, U. Spremberg, Y. Y. Watanabe, T. Takagi and anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellows to Y. K. (grant number 20-2242) and the Fisheries Research Agency, Japan.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yuuki Kawabata

    Present address: Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan

  2. Hideaki Yamada

    Present address: Tohoku National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, Shiogama, Miyagi, 985-0001, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for East China Sea Research, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 851-2213, Japan

    Yuuki Kawabata

  2. Research Center for Subtropical Fisheries, Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute, Fisheries Research Agency, Ishigaki, Okinawa, 907-0451, Japan

    Hideaki Yamada, Taku Sato, Masato Kobayashi & Kimio Asami

  3. National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Minami-ise, Mie, 516-0193, Japan

    Koichi Okuzawa

Authors
  1. Yuuki Kawabata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hideaki Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Taku Sato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masato Kobayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Koichi Okuzawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kimio Asami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuuki Kawabata.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 220 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kawabata, Y., Yamada, H., Sato, T. et al. Pelvic fin removal modifies escape trajectory in a teleost fish. Fish Sci 82, 85–93 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0953-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0953-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation