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Seasonal effects on the freerunning rhythm of circadian activity of longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae)

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Freerunning circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in individual longnose dace sampled from a population at 41°N latitude were recorded under constant darkness throughout the year. There was an annual cycle in the length of the circadian period, with maximum and minimum lengths of mean period of 23.6 and 21.6 h recorded during summer (June) and winter (December), respectively. These annual changes in period length may have resulted from seasonal changes in entrainment by natural light-dark cycles and their ‘after-effects’ on endogenous circadian rhythms. The possibility of an endogenous circannual rhythm was also considered.

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Kavaliers, M. Seasonal effects on the freerunning rhythm of circadian activity of longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae). Environ Biol Fish 6, 203–206 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002784

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002784

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