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To migrate, or not to migrate: partial diel horizontal migration of fish in a temperate freshwater reservoir

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Abstract

The diel horizontal migration (DHM) of fish between the inshore and offshore zones of the Římov Reservoir (Czech Republic, deep, stratified, meso-eutrophic) was investigated by a combination of horizontal and vertical hydroacoustic surveys at 3-h intervals over 48 h and day/night purse seining in August 2007. An overwhelming majority of fish were aggregated within the epilimnetic layer. Considering only the horizontal surveys, cyclic diel fish movements between inshore and offshore habitats were apparent, while the total fish biomass remained constant between day and night. A higher fish biomass was detected in the offshore zone during daytime by both hydroacoustics and purse seining. In contrast, a higher fish biomass was recorded at night in the inshore zone. Bream Abramis brama, roach Rutilus rutilus, and perch Perca fluviatilis dominated the daytime offshore fish assemblage whereas bleak Alburnus alburnus prevailed at night. Bream and roach decreased in abundance at night while perch completely disappeared from the offshore habitat. The diel differences in size distributions and direct catches suggested the population-wide horizontal offshore migration of bleak and inshore migration of all perch during dusk. On the other hand, partial inshore migration of bream and roach adults was observed during dusk (52 and 80%, respectively). The different proportions of offshore residents among species and size classes suggested that differences in size, and, therefore, predation vulnerability, contributed to the observed migration patterns.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Agency of Agricultural research, project No. QH 81046, project CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0204 (CEKOPOT) co-financed by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic and the Grant Agency of the University of South Bohemia, project No. 144/2010/100. We cordially thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments to previous version of the paper and Dr. Hassan Hashimi for language correction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Milan Muška, Michal Tušer, Jaroslava Frouzová, Vladislav Draštík, Martin Čech, Tomáš Jůza, Michal Kratochvíl, Jiří Peterka, Marie Prchalová, Milan Říha, Mojmír Vašek & Jan Kubečka

  2. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Milan Muška

  3. Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia, Studentská 13, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Tomáš Mrkvička

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  1. Milan Muška
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  2. Michal Tušer
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  3. Jaroslava Frouzová
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  4. Vladislav Draštík
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Correspondence to Milan Muška.

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Muška, M., Tušer, M., Frouzová, J. et al. To migrate, or not to migrate: partial diel horizontal migration of fish in a temperate freshwater reservoir. Hydrobiologia 707, 17–28 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1401-9

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