Influence of Inter-Lake Variation in Natural Nest Predation Pressure on the Parental Care Behaviour of Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu)

Ethology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 608-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Ange Gravel ◽  
Steven J. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Natural Nest ◽  
Lake Variation

scholarly journals Effects of storms, angling, and nest predation during angling on smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) nest success

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 2649-2660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey B Steinhart ◽  
Nancy J Leonard ◽  
Roy A Stein ◽  
Elizabeth A Marschall
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Nest Success ◽  
Nest Survival ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Round Goby ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Daily Survival ◽  
Daily Nest Survival

We studied how storms, angling, and nest predation during angling affected smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) nest survival in the Bass Islands, Lake Erie, Ohio, USA. Increasing angler effort and introduction of an exotic nest predator, round goby (Neogobious melanostomus), have raised concerns about smallmouth bass recruitment in Lake Erie. We surveyed smallmouth bass nests and calculated daily survival rates for nests assigned to different angling treatments: control, angling without predation, or angling with predation treatments. Only 30% of control nests were successful compared with 11% of angling without predation and 14% of angling with predation treatments. We used the Mayfield method and maximum likelihood models in the program MARK to estimate the survival rates for nests of different treatments and exposed to different numbers of storms. Although nest predators consumed about 35% of broods during angling, daily nest survival rates of both angling treatments were similar. Angling reduced nest survival compared with controls by approximately 5%. Storms reduced both nest success and daily survival. The best model predicting daily nest survival included the added effects of angling treatment and number of storms. Thus, whereas storms and angling affected smallmouth bass nest survival, nest predation during angling did not.

BROOD SIZE DOES NOT INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIOUR OR DENSITY OF LARVAL AND JUVENILE SMALLMOUTH BASS UNDER PARENTAL CARE

Behaviour ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Ridgway ◽  
Trevor Friesen
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Developmental Phase ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Nearshore Zone ◽  
Lake Surface ◽  
Schooling Fish ◽  
Fish Remains ◽  
Care Period

AbstractWe used fine scale observations of individual broods of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) to ask whether brood size had an effect on feeding behaviour, agonistic behaviour, nearest-neighbour distance or brood density of larvae and juveniles. Developmental phase, and not brood size, provided the only significant effect on individual behaviour. The dispersion of broods in the nearshore zone of the lake increased throughout the parental care period in response to both developmental phase and brood size. The density of fish in broods (number of fish/m2 of lake surface/brood) declined sharply before metamorphosis and remained relatively constant throughout the remaining parental care period. However, at any particular developmental phase, the density of fish in broods was unrelated to the total numbers of fish in a brood. The observation of increasing dispersion of broods during parental care while, at any developmental phase, the density of fish remains independent of brood size has important implications for the ecology of young-of-year smallmouth bass. The possible mechanisms governing this phenomenon may be similar to those proposed for schooling fish and the movements of large migratory mammals.

Parental care patterns and energetics of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) monitored with activity transmitters

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 756-770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J Cooke ◽  
David P Philipp ◽  
Patrick J Weatherhead
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Care Patterns ◽  
Burst Swimming ◽  
Care Activity ◽  
Diurnal Behaviour

Male smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) care for their offspring from fertilization until the offspring disperse after becoming capable of avoiding predators. We used activity transmitters to monitor round-the-clock parental activity of both species throughout the nesting period, coupled with direct observational data collected while snorkeling, to determine whether nocturnal behaviour varied similarly to diurnal behaviour. In general, nesting males of both species were equally active during day and night, developmental-stage-specific patterns being evident during both periods. Consistent with theory, parental males of both species exhibited elevated levels of burst swimming (indicative of chasing nest predators) early in the nesting period. Unlike male smallmouth bass, however, male largemouth bass showed no decline in overall activity and energy expenditure in the later nesting stages as predicted from the greater mobility and dispersion of their broods, although burst-swimming activity decreased. Activity of nesting fish was approximately double that of non-nesting conspecifics, causing an increase in respiration rates of fish, estimated using a bioenergetics model. The results of our study suggest that physiological telemetry devices which provide both behavioural and energetic information enhance the study of parental care activity in centrarchid fishes, and may be equally useful in a variety of other taxa.

The nest range of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu): parental care after swim-up

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (12) ◽  
pp. 2058-2062 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Scott ◽  
D. L. G. Noakes ◽  
M. S. Ridgway
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Diurnal Pattern

Male smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) remain in association with their broods for an extended period of time after swim-up. The diurnal pattern of brood dispersion after swim-up consists of expansion during the day and contraction in the evening. We measured the areas occupied by both the broods and parental males after swim-up to determine if males adjust their parental surveillance to the dispersion of the brood. Male nest range, as determined from sonic tracking procedures, was found to be significantly related to the dispersion of the brood and not to the developmental stage (larval versus juvenile) of the offspring. This relationship indicates that parental vigilance after swim-up continues to be non-depreciable in the same manner as parental defense prior to swim-up.

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