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.
References
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 156:625–629
Beamish FWH (1978) Swimming capacity. In: Hoar WS, Randall DJ (eds) Fish physiology, vol 7. Academic Press Inc., New York, pp. 101–187
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 268:315–324
Blob RW et al. (2007) Ontogenetic change in novel functions: waterfall climbing in adult Hawaiian gobiid fishes. J Zool 273:200–209
Brett JR (1964) The respiratory metabolism and swimming performance of young sockeye salmon. J Fish Res Board Can 21:1183–1226
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 76
Deslauriers D, Kieffer JD (2011) The influence of flume length and group size on swimming performance in shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum. J Fish Biol 79:1146–1155
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 90:345–351
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 97:359–373
Farrell AP (2008) Comparisons of swimming performance in rainbow trout using constant acceleration and critical swimming speed tests. J Fish Biol 72:693–710
Grömping U (2006) Relative importance for linear regression in R: the package relaimpo. J Stat Soft 17:1–27
Hammer CH (1995) Fatigue and exercise tests with fish. Comp Bioch Physiol 112A:1–20
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 1–8
Jude DJ, Reider RH, Smith GR (1992) Establishment of Gobiidae in the Great-Lakes basin. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:416–421
Keenleyside MHA, Yamamoto FT (1962) Territorial behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Behaviour 19:139–169
Kieffer JD (2010) Perspective - exercise in fish: 50+ years and going strong. Comp Biochem Physiol 156A:163–168
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 84:88–97
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:289–302
Peake SJ (2008) Gait transition speed as an alternate measure of maximum aerobic capacity in fishes. J Fish Biol 72:645–655
Peake SJ, Farrell AP (2006) Fatigue is a behavioural response in respirometer confined smallmouth bass. J Fish Biol 68:1742–1755
Plaut I (2001) Critical swimming speed: its ecological relevance. Comp Biochem Physiol 131A:41–50
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 85:295–309
R Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
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:350–356
Schoenfuss HL, Blob RW (2003) Kinematics of waterfall climbing in Hawaiian freshwater fishes (Gobiidae): vertical propulsion at the aquatic–terrestrial interface. J Zool 261:191–205
Tierney K, Kasurak A, Zielinski B, Higgs D (2011) Swimming performance and invasion potential of the round goby. Environ Biol Fish 92:491–502
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 71:1630–1638
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 36:115–122
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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gilbert, M.J.H., Barbarich, J.M., Casselman, M. et al. The role of substrate holding in achieving critical swimming speeds: a case study using the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Environ Biol Fish 99, 793–799 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-016-0514-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-016-0514-9