Activity patterns of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in Buckley Cove, Newfoundland

Abstract

We monitored swimming speed of 2–3 year-old juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from August to December 1999, using a 2-D location finding acoustic telemetry system in a coastal area of Newfoundland, Canada. We concurrently monitored the locations of 22–41 individuals by triangulation using a fixed hydrophone array. We estimated average swimming speeds at intervals of 60–120 s and compared them over a 1 to 17 °C thermal range, three diel periods, and five substrates (sand, gravel, sand-sparse boulder, boulder, and kelp). However, cod did not exhibit a change in swimming speed over the temperature range studied. Increased activity and foraging rates (expressed as swimming speeds) were expected to increase at elevated temperatures due to increased metabolic demands. Activity did vary significantly with diel cycle and substrate. Swimming speeds were significantly lower at night during September and October. Results for August and November were inconclusive, while swimming speed was significantly lower during the day in December. We observed significantly reduced average swimming speeds in structurally complex substrates (e.g. rock, cobble and kelp) in September and October. Our results suggest that activity of juvenile cod in the wild does not vary with temperature as predicted from studies in the laboratory. Instead, activity varied with diel cycles and structural complexity, variables that influence an individual’s ability to forage and seek refuge, potentially altering individual fitness.