ISSN:
1365-2427
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
1. Migratory shrimps are often major biotic components of tropical stream communities, yet spatial and temporal patterns of their migration have yet to be described. This information is of increasing importance given the continued fragmentation of tropical streams by damming and water abstraction/diversion, which can disrupt migratory life cycles.2. Larval amphidromous shrimps are released by adult females in freshwater streams. They then drift passively to an estuarine habitat where they metamorphose before migrating back upstream. Drift of larval shrimps was sampled over two to five 24-h periods at each of three sites along two rivers that drain the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico: the Espíritu Santo (10, 135 and 335 m a.s.l.) and the Mameyes (10, 90 and 290 m a.s.l.). A total of seventeen diel samplings were conducted.3. Shrimp drift increased in the downstream direction in both catchments, and had a significant positive exponential relationship with length of stream channel above each site. There was no significant difference between catchments with respect to mean daily drift rate per km of stream channel. Maximum observed larval shrimp density was 69 102 larvae 100 m–3 (1.7 g dry mass 100 m–3), which is high relative to published invertebrate drift studies.4. The pattern of shrimp drift agreed with the ’risk of predation hypothesis‘. In stream reaches with predatory fish, drift of larval shrimps occurred at night and was slight during the day. A nocturnal peak in drift occurred between 19.00 and 22.00 h. At a high-altitude site, where predatory fish were absent, no diel pattern was discernible.5. The present study provides information on the timing of migratory drift of larval shrimps, which can minimize the adverse effects of water abstraction from streams draining the Luquillo Experimental Forest. Elimination of water withdrawal during peak larval drift after dark will significantly reduce shrimp mortality.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.1998.00352.x
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