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Effect of turbidity on habitat preference of juvenile Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua

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Abstract

We examined the effects of turbidity on habitat preference of juvenile Atlantic cod in the laboratory, using a shuttle box where fish could select between two different habitats. In the first experiment, we compared three turbidity levels of kaolin (3, 8 and 21 beam attenuation m−1). In the second experiment, we looked at the effect of turbidity media (kaolin versus algae), after controlling for spectral differences between turbidity media. Although cod preferred an intermediate turbidity of kaolin over low turbidity water, comparisons between low and high turbidity, and intermediate and high turbidity did not significantly influence habitat preference. Algae did not influence habitat preference by cod. Although other studies have found that turbidity affects both foraging and antipredator behaviour of juvenile cod, this study has shown that gradients in turbidity per se do not have a strong effect on their habitat preference.

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Acknowledgements

Research was approved by the Norwegian Animal Research Committee (Forsøksdyrutvalget). Financial support was provided by the European Union Fisheries Directorate, through Contract QLRS-2002-00799, Project ETHOFISH. We would like to thank Jorun Egge and Jens Nejstgaard for advice about marine algae.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, PO Box 7800, Bergen, 5020, Norway

    Justin J. Meager & Anne Christine Utne-Palm

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  1. Justin J. Meager
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  2. Anne Christine Utne-Palm
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Correspondence to Justin J. Meager.

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Meager, J.J., Utne-Palm, A.C. Effect of turbidity on habitat preference of juvenile Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua . Environ Biol Fish 81, 149–155 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-007-9183-z

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