Advertisement

Environmental Biology of Fishes

, Volume 99, Issue 10, pp 793–799 | Cite as

The role of substrate holding in achieving critical swimming speeds: a case study using the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)

  • Matthew J. H. Gilbert
  • Janelle M. Barbarich
  • Matthew Casselman
  • Ashley V. Kasurak
  • Dennis M. Higgs
  • Keith B. TierneyEmail author
Article
First Online:

Abstract

The swimming performance of fishes has generally been assessed using a stepped velocity test where the speed at fatigue is considered the critical swimming performance (U crit). Although this test was designed for fishes that swim in the water column, it has been applied to fishes that adhere to the substrate. Here we examined the extent to which substrate holding, slipping and swimming contributed to reaching U crit in an example substrate holding fish, the invasive round goby. A linear model indicated that each behavior contributed significantly to U crit, but that substrate holding was by far the biggest contributor (65.8 ± 3.9 % vs. 5.8 ± 0.9 and 28.4 ± 3.4 % slipping and swimming). We also used our behavioural analysis to determine the critical substrate holding speed (U hold: 28.6 ± 1.1 cm s−1). We conclude that the U crit test can be applied to substrate holding fish but that it is not just an indication of critical swimming speed as is often considered and must be interpreted with caution.

Keywords

Swimming performance Ucrit Substrate holding Gobiidae 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Marc St. Pierre of the University of Windsor Science Technical shop for his outstanding craftsmanship of the swim tunnel respirometer. This study was funded by NSERC grants to KBT and DMH.

References

  1. Arnold GP, Webb PW, Holford BH (1991) Short communication: the role of the pectoral fins in station-holding of Atlantic salmon parr (Salmo salar L.). J Exp Biol 156:625–629Google Scholar
  2. Beamish FWH (1978) Swimming capacity. In: Hoar WS, Randall DJ (eds) Fish physiology, vol 7. Academic Press Inc., New York, pp. 101–187Google Scholar
  3. Blob RW, Rai R, Julius ML, Schoenfuss HL (2006) Functional diversity in extreme environments: effects of locomotor style and substrate texture on the waterfall-climbing performance of Hawaiian gobiid fishes. J Zool 268:315–324CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Blob RW et al. (2007) Ontogenetic change in novel functions: waterfall climbing in adult Hawaiian gobiid fishes. J Zool 273:200–209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Brett JR (1964) The respiratory metabolism and swimming performance of young sockeye salmon. J Fish Res Board Can 21:1183–1226CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Charlebois PM, Marsden JE, Goettel RG, Wolfe RK, Jude DJ, Rudnika S (1997) The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus (Pallas), a review of European and North American literature. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program and Illinois Natural History Survey. INHS Special Publication No. 20, Illinois, p 76Google Scholar
  7. Deslauriers D, Kieffer JD (2011) The influence of flume length and group size on swimming performance in shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum. J Fish Biol 79:1146–1155CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  8. Deslauriers D, Kieffer JD (2012) Swimming performance and behaviour of young-of-the-year shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) under fixed and increased velocity swimming tests. Can J Zool 90:345–351CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Duthie GG (1982) The respiratory metabolism of temperature-adapted flatfish at rest and during swimming activity and the use of anaerobic metabolism at moderate swimming speeds. J Exp Biol 97:359–373PubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Farrell AP (2008) Comparisons of swimming performance in rainbow trout using constant acceleration and critical swimming speed tests. J Fish Biol 72:693–710CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Grömping U (2006) Relative importance for linear regression in R: the package relaimpo. J Stat Soft 17:1–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Hammer CH (1995) Fatigue and exercise tests with fish. Comp Bioch Physiol 112A:1–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Hoover JJ, Adams SR, Killgore KJ (2003) Can hydraulic barriers stop the spread of the round goby? U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, MS., p 1–8Google Scholar
  14. Jude DJ, Reider RH, Smith GR (1992) Establishment of Gobiidae in the Great-Lakes basin. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:416–421CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Keenleyside MHA, Yamamoto FT (1962) Territorial behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Behaviour 19:139–169CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Kieffer JD (2010) Perspective - exercise in fish: 50+ years and going strong. Comp Biochem Physiol 156A:163–168CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. MacNutt MJ et al. (2006) Temperature effects on swimming performance, energetics, and aerobic capacities of mature adult pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) compared with those of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Can J Zool 84:88–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Nelson JA, Gotwalt PS, Reidy SP, Webber DM (2002) Beyond Ucrit: matching swimming performance tests to the physiological ecology of the animal, including a new fish 'drag strip'. Comp Biochem Physiol 133A:289–302CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Peake SJ (2008) Gait transition speed as an alternate measure of maximum aerobic capacity in fishes. J Fish Biol 72:645–655CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Peake SJ, Farrell AP (2006) Fatigue is a behavioural response in respirometer confined smallmouth bass. J Fish Biol 68:1742–1755CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Plaut I (2001) Critical swimming speed: its ecological relevance. Comp Biochem Physiol 131A:41–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Priede IG, Holliday FGT (1980) The use of a new tilting tunnel respirometer to investigate some aspects of metabolism and swimming activity of the plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.). J Exp Biol 85:295–309Google Scholar
  23. R Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, ViennaGoogle Scholar
  24. Ralph AL, Berli BI, Burkhardt-Holm P, Tierney KB (2012) Variability in swimming performance and underlying physiology in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and brown trout (Salmo trutta). Comp Biochem Physiol 163A:350–356CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Schoenfuss HL, Blob RW (2003) Kinematics of waterfall climbing in Hawaiian freshwater fishes (Gobiidae): vertical propulsion at the aquatic–terrestrial interface. J Zool 261:191–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Tierney K, Kasurak A, Zielinski B, Higgs D (2011) Swimming performance and invasion potential of the round goby. Environ Biol Fish 92:491–502CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Tudorache C, Viaenen P, Blust R, de Boeck G (2007) Longer flumes increase critical swimming speeds by increasing burst-glide swimming duration in carp Cyprinus carpio, L. J Fish Biol 71:1630–1638CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Young JAM, Marentette JR, Gross C, McDonald JI, Verma A, Marsh-Rollo SE, Macdonald PDM, Earn DJD, Balshine S (2010) Demography and substrate affinity of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in Hamilton harbour. J Great Lakes Res 36:115–122CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Matthew J. H. Gilbert
    • 1
  • Janelle M. Barbarich
    • 1
  • Matthew Casselman
    • 2
  • Ashley V. Kasurak
    • 3
  • Dennis M. Higgs
    • 3
  • Keith B. Tierney
    • 1
    Email author
  1. 1.Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of AlbertaEdmontonCanada
  2. 2.Department of Land and Food SystemsUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
  3. 3.Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of WindsorWindsorCanada

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options