Effects of a novel microacoustic transmitter on survival, swim performance, and movement ecology of out-migrating juvenile sea lamprey in laboratory and field settings / Taylor F Haas.

Migration, defined as "a relocation of the animal that is on a much greater scale and involves movement of much longer duration, than those arising in its normal daily activities" is a time of great uncertainty in animals' life. As an evolved behavior, migration dictates that fitness benefits on the species level outweigh the cost of translocation, however risks on the individual level remain. Benefits include but are not limited to, access to breeding grounds and food availability; and risks include mortality or depleted energetic reserves. In the Upper Great Lakes an invasive migratory fish, the Sea Lamprey, has inhabited the region since its initial establishment in the region around 1930. High efficacy treatment measures target Sea Lamprey in their larval stage and have curbed populations by 90%, yet information of subsequent phases is lacking and warranted. Specifically, information on the feeding migration (River to Lake) is necessary for refining population models and possible management, as this is the last time Sea Lamprey are in a confined space. A novel microacoustic transmitter can inform researchers on this phase, and these two experiments tested this technology's ability in Sea Lamprey. The first experiment details a proof-of-concept study examining the physiological effects of tag implantation within a laboratory setting and the second explores the tag's ability in a field setting. The laboratory experiment investigates swimming ability, tag retention and survival for 61-days post-implantation relative to a control group; the field experiment focuses on habitat related mortality, the movement ecology of these organisms, and the telemetry equipment's ability to inform on these topics.

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