Acceleration Performance of Individual European Sea Bass Dicentrarchus labrax Measured with a Sprint Performance Chamber: Comparison with High-Speed Cinematography and Correlates with Ecological Performance

Type Article
Date 2012-11
Language English
Author(s) Vandamm Joshua P.1, Marras Stefano1, Claireaux Guy1, Handelsmank Corey A.1, Nelson Jay A.1
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, CNRS, Ctr Rech Ecosyst Marins & Aquacoles, F-17137 Lhoumeau, France.
Source Physiological And Biochemical Zoology (1522-2152) (Univ Chicago Press), 2012-11 , Vol. 85 , N. 6 , P. 704-717
DOI 10.1086/666463
WOS© Times Cited 7
Abstract Locomotor performance can influence the ecological and evolutionary success of a species. For fish, favorable outcomes of predator-prey encounters are often presumably due to robust acceleration ability. Although escape-response or "fast-start" studies utilizing high-speed cinematography are prevalent, little is known about the contribution of relative acceleration performance to ecological or evolutionary success in a species. This dearth of knowledge may be due to the time-consuming nature of analyzing film, which imposes a practical limit on sample sizes. Herein, we present a high-throughput potential alternative for measuring fish acceleration performance using a sprint performance chamber (SPC). The acceleration performance of a large number of juvenile European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from two populations was analyzed. Animals from both hatchery and natural ontogenies were assessed, and animals of known acceleration ability had their ecological performance measured in a mesocosm environment. Individuals from one population also had their acceleration performance assessed by both high-speed cinematography and an SPC. Acceleration performance measured in an SPC was lower than that measured by classical high-speed video techniques. However, short-term repeatability and interindividual variation of acceleration performance were similar between the two techniques, and the SPC recorded higher sprint swimming velocities. Wild fish were quicker to accelerate in an SPC and had significantly greater accelerations than all groups of hatchery-raised fish. Acceleration performance had no significant effect on ecological performance ( as assessed through animal growth and survival in the mesocosms). However, it is worth noting that wild animals did survive predation in the mesocosm better than farmed ones. Moreover, the hatchery-originated fish that survived the mesocosm experiment, when no predators were present, displayed significantly increased acceleration performance during their 6 mo in the mesocosm; this performance was found to be inversely proportional to growth rate.
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Vandamm Joshua P., Marras Stefano, Claireaux Guy, Handelsmank Corey A., Nelson Jay A. (2012). Acceleration Performance of Individual European Sea Bass Dicentrarchus labrax Measured with a Sprint Performance Chamber: Comparison with High-Speed Cinematography and Correlates with Ecological Performance. Physiological And Biochemical Zoology, 85(6), 704-717. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1086/666463 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00109/22046/