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Abstract

Activity Patterns and Tridimensional Space Use of the European Catfish on a Reservoir in River Tagus (Portugal)  †

1
MARE—Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
2
Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
3
MARE—Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade de Évora, 7521-903 Évora, Portugal
4
Departamento de Biologia, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Presented at the IX Iberian Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 20–23 June 2022.
Presenting author (Oral communication).
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2022, 13(1), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013061
Published: 8 June 2022
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The IX Iberian Congress of Ichthyology)

Abstract

:
The European catfish (Silurus glanis) is a non-native species with invasive character to Iberian freshwaters. Being the largest fish species in those invaded water bodies, with high fecundity rates, a large life expectancy and an extraordinary predatory potential, S. glanis has all the indicators that it could be exerting a dangerous pressure on native fish communities. Albeit there are some studies regarding the activity and depth use of this catfish, many of them are restricted to its native range and do not describe the circadian and annual behaviours in detail. Moreover, no studies have compared the differences in habitat use and movement ranges between adults and juveniles in a recently invaded territory. To fill these knowledge gaps, this study resorts to acoustic biotelemetry to track 25 fish (10 adults and 15 juveniles) in a Tagus river reservoir, the Belver dam, through an array of fixed acoustic receivers. The fish were internally tagged with acoustic transmitters, which, in the case of the adults, including a 3D-accelerometer and pressure sensors that allow obtaining information on activity and depth use for over a year. The results show that S. glanis is active throughout the year but with higher activity levels in summer and minimal in autumn, and with a crepuscular and nocturnal increase in activity. This species occupies shallower depths in spring/summer, while in autumn/winter roams at relatively deeper waters. Circadian vertical movement patterns were identified; however, they vary seasonally and have some individual variability. The areas used by the adults are larger than the juveniles’ and increase in warmer months. Adult preferences in the use of specific areas across the year and a possible migration to a spawning site were identified. Such findings will support the development of more effective control measures, for instance, by providing information on how to allocate the fishing efforts in space and time to maximize the efficiency of mass removal actions of this invasive fish.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, B.R.Q. and F.R.; methodology, B.R.Q., F.R. and G.S.S.; software, G.S.S.; formal analysis, G.S.S.; investigation, G.S.S., F.R., B.R.Q., E.P., A.F.S., P.R.A. and D.R.; resources, F.R. and B.R.Q.; writing—original draft preparation, G.S.S.; writing—review and editing, F.R., B.R.Q., E.P., A.F.S., P.R.A. and D.R.; visualization, G.S.S.; supervision, F.R. and B.R.Q.; project administration, F.R.; funding acquisition, F.R. and B.R.Q. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was conducted in the frame of the projects: “FRISK—Freshwater fish invasions risk assessment: identifying invasion routes” financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT ref. PTDC/AAGMAA/0350/2014); “SONICINVADERS—Sounds of Invasion—Detecting Invasive Fish in Freshwaters Ecosystems with Passive Acoustics” financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT ref. PTDC/CTAAMB/28782/2017) and by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (ALT20-03-0145-FEDER-028782); “MEGAPREDATOR—A giant on the water: from predation pressure to population control of the European catfish (Silurus glanis)” (FCT ref. PTDC/ASP-PES/4181/2020) and “CoastNet—Portuguese Coastal Monitoring Network” financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), through LISBOA2020 and ALENTEJO2020 regional operational programs, in the framework of the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of strategic relevance (PINFRA/22128/2016).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data will be available after proper publication on the ETN (European Tracking Network) data portal.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Santos, G.S.; Quintella, B.R.; Pereira, E.; Silva, A.F.; Almeida, P.R.; Ribeiro, D.; Ribeiro, F. Activity Patterns and Tridimensional Space Use of the European Catfish on a Reservoir in River Tagus (Portugal) . Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2022, 13, 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013061

AMA Style

Santos GS, Quintella BR, Pereira E, Silva AF, Almeida PR, Ribeiro D, Ribeiro F. Activity Patterns and Tridimensional Space Use of the European Catfish on a Reservoir in River Tagus (Portugal) . Biology and Life Sciences Forum. 2022; 13(1):61. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013061

Chicago/Turabian Style

Santos, Gil S., Bernardo R. Quintella, Esmeralda Pereira, Ana Filipa Silva, Pedro R. Almeida, Diogo Ribeiro, and Filipe Ribeiro. 2022. "Activity Patterns and Tridimensional Space Use of the European Catfish on a Reservoir in River Tagus (Portugal) " Biology and Life Sciences Forum 13, no. 1: 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013061

APA Style

Santos, G. S., Quintella, B. R., Pereira, E., Silva, A. F., Almeida, P. R., Ribeiro, D., & Ribeiro, F. (2022). Activity Patterns and Tridimensional Space Use of the European Catfish on a Reservoir in River Tagus (Portugal) . Biology and Life Sciences Forum, 13(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013061

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