Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T04:01:51.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Homing abilities of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) displaced from fish aggregating devices (FADs) determined using ultrasonic telemetry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2008

Charlotte Girard ,
Laurent Dagorn ,
Marc Taquet ,
Riaz Aumeeruddy ,
Christophe Peignon  and
Simon Benhamou
Charlotte Girard
Affiliation:
IRD, UR Thetis, CRH, BP 171, 34230 Sète Cedex, France
Laurent Dagorn
Affiliation:
IRD, UR Thetis, CRH, BP 171, 34230 Sète Cedex, France
Marc Taquet
Affiliation:
IFREMER, CRH, BP 171, 34230 Sète Cedex, France
Riaz Aumeeruddy
Affiliation:
SFA, PO Box 449, Victoria, Seychelles
Christophe Peignon
Affiliation:
IRD, UR Thetis, PO Box 570, Victoria, Seychelles
Simon Benhamou
Affiliation:
CEFE CNRS, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
Get access

Abstract

We conducted displacement experiments using acoustic tags to study the orientation abilities of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) around FADs. Eleven fish were passively monitored using coded transmitters and acoustic receivers attached to FADs, while seven others were actively tracked with a vessel using continuous acoustic tags equipped with pressure sensors. All these 18 dolphinfish were captured close to a FAD and released between 70 and 1720 m from it. Five fish out of the 14 that were displaced at more than 360 m from a FAD (estimated detection range of our acoustic receivers, defining the target area during our experiment) returned to the target area. With one individual successfully returning to the target area after having been released at 1600 m from the FAD, the rate of return of fish released up to this distance was significantly higher than expected if they were moving at random, but many fish released at intermediate distances moved in other directions. Based on detailed statistical analysis of the return score, we estimated that dolphinfish are able to orientate towards a FAD area from at least 820 m. The connection between our definition of the target area and the association area of dolphinfish around a FAD is discussed, as well as the impact of stress and motivation in the rates of return observed. More experiments should be conducted to improve this first estimate. Specific experiments should also be designed to more accurately determine the association range of fish around FADs and their motivation to orientate towards FADs.

Keywords

Ultrasonic telemetryFish behaviourHorizontal movementsFloating objectsOrientation behaviourIndian Ocean
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 20 , Issue 4: Fish Aggregating Devices as Instrumented Observatories of Pelagic Ecosystems , October 2007 , pp. 313 - 321
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atema, J., Holland, K., Ikehara, W., 1980, Olfactory responses of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) to prey odors: chemical search image. J. Chem. Ecol. 6, 457-465. CrossRef
Atema, J., Kingsford, M.J., Gerlach, G., 2002, Larval reef fish could use odour for detection, retention and orientation to reefs. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 241, 151–160. CrossRef
Barbin, G.P., 1998, The role of olfaction in homing and estuarine migratory behaviour of yellow phase American eels. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55, 564-575. CrossRef
Carrier J.C., Musick J., Heithaus M., 2004, Biology of sharks and their relatives. CRC Press, LLC. Boca Raton.
Castro, J.J., Santiago, J.A., Santana-Ortega, A.T., 2002, A general theory on fish aggregation to floating objects: An alternative to the meeting point hypothesis. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 11, 255-277. CrossRef
Chen, S.X., Liu, J.N., 1997, Statistical applications of the Poisson-Binomial and conditional Bernoulli distributions. Stat. Sinica 7, 875-892.
Dagorn, L., Josse, E., Bach, P., 2000, Individual differences in horizontal movements of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in nearshore areas in French Polynesia, determined using ultrasonic telemetry. Aquat. Living Resour. 13, 193-202. CrossRef
Dagorn, L., Josse, E., Bach, P., 2001, Association of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) with tracking vessels during ultrasonic telemetry experiments. Fish. Bull. 99, 40-48.
Dagorn, L., Holland, K.N., Itano, D.G., 2007, Behavior of yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye (T. obesus) tuna in a network of fish aggregating devices (FADs). Mar. Biol. 151, 595-606. CrossRef
Dempster, T., Kingsford, M.J., 2003, Homing of pelagic fish to fish aggregating devices (FADs): an investigation of the role of sensory cues. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 258, 213-222. CrossRef
Døving K.B., Stabell O.B., 2003, Trails in open waters: sensory cues in salmon migration. In: Sensory processing in aquatic environments. In: Collin S.P., Marshall N.J. (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 39-52.
Fonteneau A., Pallares P., Pianet R., 2000, A worldwide review of purse seine fisheries on FADs. In: Le Gall J.-Y., Cayré P., Taquet M. (Eds.), Pêche thonière et dispositifs de concentration de poissons. Ifremer, Actes Colloq. 28, pp. 15-34.
Fréon, P., Dagorn, L., 2000, Review of fish associative behaviour: toward a generalisation of the meeting point hypothesis. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 10, 183-207. CrossRef
Fréon P., Hall M., Marsac F., 2000, Prospective of methods and experiments on pelagic fishes aggregation by FADs. In: Le Gall J.-Y., Cayré P., Taquet M. (Eds.), Pêche thonière et dispositifs de concentration de poissons. Ifremer, Actes Colloq. 28, pp. 36-54.
Girard, C., Benhamou, S., Dagorn, L., 2004, FAD: Fish Aggregating Device or Fish Attracting Device? A new analysis of yellowfin tuna movements around floating objects. Anim. Behav. 67, 319-326. CrossRef
Ohta, I., Kakuma, S., 2005, Periodic behavior and residence time of yellowfin and bigeye tuna associated with fish aggregating devices around Okinawa Islands, as identified with automated listening stations. Mar. Biol. 146, 581-594. CrossRef
Parin N.V., Fedoryako B.I., 1999, Pelagic fish communities around floating objects in the open ocean. In: Scott M.D., Bayliff W.H., Lennert-Cody C.E., Schaefer K.M. (Eds.), Proc. Internat. Workshop on the Ecology and Fisheries for Tunas Associated with Floating Objects, February 11-13, 1992. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Special Report 11, La Jolla, CA, pp. 447-458.
Pincock D.G., Voegeli F.A. 1990, Quick course in underwater telemetry system. Vemco Limited.
Romanov, E.V., 2002, Bycatch in the tuna purse-seine fisheries of the western Indian Ocean. Fish. Bull. 100, 90-105.
Roos D., Tessier E., Berthier P., Berthier L., 2000, Fishing in Reunion Island: description and evolution of the fishing techniques with Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). In: Le Gall J.-Y., Cayré P.,Taquet M. (Eds.), Pêche thonière et dispositifs de concentration de poissons. Ifremer, Actes Colloq. 28, 333-345.
Taquet M., 2004, Le comportement agrégatif de la dorade coryphène (Coryphaena hippurus) autour des objets flottants. Thèse de Doctorat de l'Université de Paris 6, Océanologie biologique, Ifremer, 168 p.
Westerberg H., 1982, The orientation of fish and the vertical stratification at fine- and microstructure scales. In: Mc Cleave J.D., Arnold G.P., Dodson J.J., Neill W.H. (Eds.), Mechanisms of Migration in Fishes, New York, Plenum, pp. 179-203.