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Swimming performance in early life stages of three threatened Iberian Leuciscidae

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Abstract

Rivers are dynamic systems where flow is constantly changing, making early fish life stages with lower swimming abilities potentially vulnerable to rapid changes in water velocity. In this study, we evaluated the response of critical young life stages of three Iberian leuciscids – Achondrostoma occidentale, Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum, and Iberochondrostoma almacai – to increasing water velocities, by determining their critical swimming speed (Ucrit) and its relation with morphometric traits potentially associated with better swimmers. Results suggest a positive relation between both fish length and body depth with Ucrit and species-specific differences in swimming performance. Moreover, most fish could not withstand the maximum velocity tested (20 cm s−1), which can be surpassed in the rivers they occur. This study highlights the importance of considering individual traits for future management of fish stocks in rivers.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Aquário Vasco da Gama for allowing the study to be conducted in their facilities using the captive fish stocks. A special thanks to José Pedro for helping setting the experimental facility and also to Filipe Romão and Paulo Branco for readily providing their paper on critical swimming speed.

Funding

This study was funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (partially FEDER funded) through MARE (UID/MAR/04292/2019) (MARE/ISPA-IU). Daniel Mameri is currently supported by a PhD grant (PD/BD/142885/2018) from the FLUVIO Program – River Restoration and Management, sponsored by FCT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEF - Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Daniel Mameri

  2. MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA – Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carla Sousa-Santos, Joana Isabel Robalo & Ana Margarida Faria

  3. Aquário Vasco da Gama, Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, Portugal

    Fátima Gil

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  1. Daniel Mameri
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  2. Carla Sousa-Santos
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  4. Fátima Gil
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  5. Ana Margarida Faria
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Correspondence to Daniel Mameri.

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Human and animal rights and informed consent

This study was performed in accordance with the European directive 2010/63/UE for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and undertaken under the supervision of an accredited expert in laboratory animal science (following FELASA category C recommendations). The experiments were approved by ISPA’s Animal Welfare Body (Permit Number 01/2019) and all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

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Mameri, D., Sousa-Santos, C., Robalo, J.I. et al. Swimming performance in early life stages of three threatened Iberian Leuciscidae. acta ethol 23, 23–29 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-019-00331-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-019-00331-9

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