Thermal preference: when does an asset become a liability?

SynopsisMost fish species (and sometimes different life stages within a species) exhibit behavioral temperature selection. In nature, thermal gradients provide habitat structure to which fish orient. Apparently, fish have evolved to fit into ‘thermal niches’ to optimize physiological, ecological, and reproductive performance in their native habitats. However, man has perturbed many of these habitats to the point where previously advantageous thermal preference behavior may now be inappropriate. Thermal perturbations are the most obviously related examples of man's interference, but a fish's inherent thermal preference behavior can also magnify the biological effects of changes in dissolved oxygen, food supply, toxicants, and physical barriers. Environmental management should (1) consider thermal preference behavior when evaluating habitat suitability, (2) manage for needed temperature and thermal structure, and (3) give priority attention to minimizing degradation of preferred thermal habitat, especially when it is in short supply.

[1]  C. Coutant,et al.  Influences of Water Quality on Distribution of Striped Bass in a Tennessee River Impoundment , 1985 .

[2]  T. Beitinger,et al.  Physiological and Ecological Correlates of Preferred Temperature in Fish , 1979 .

[3]  M. Jobling.  Temperature tolerance and the final preferendum—rapid methods for the assessment of optimum growth temperatures , 1981 .

[4]  C. Coutant,et al.  Temperatures occupied by ten ultrasonic-tagged striped bass in freshwater lakes , 1980 .

[5]  Charles C. Coutant,et al.  Growth Dynamics of Juvenile Striped Bass as Functions of Temperature and Ration , 1981 .

[6]  T. B. Bagenal.  The Relationship Between Food Supply and Fecundity in Brown Trout Salmo trutta L. , 1969 .

[7]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Influence of Social Rank and Size on Thermoselection Behavior of Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) , 1975 .

[8]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Growth Rates and Temperature Selection of Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus , 1979 .

[9]  J. S. Dendy,et al.  Predicting Depth Distribution of Fish in Three TVA Storage-Type Reservoirs , 1948 .

[10]  R. Reinert,et al.  Effect of temperature on accumulation of methylmercuric chloride and p,p'DDT by rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) , 1974 .

[11]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Thermal Habitat Shifts by Fishes at the Thermocline in Lake Michigan , 1982 .

[12]  J. D. Bryan,et al.  Interdependence of Acute Temperature Preference and Respiration in the Plains Minnow , 1984 .

[13]  J. R. Brett.  Energetic Responses of Salmon to Temperature. A Study of Some Thermal Relations in the Physiology and Freshwater Ecology of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerkd) , 1971 .

[14]  W. W. Reynolds,et al.  Ontogenetic change in preferred temperature and diel activity of the yellow bullhead, Ictalurus natalis , 1978 .

[15]  R. Dudley,et al.  Movements of Adult Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Savannah River, Georgia , 1977 .

[16]  R. Ferguson.  The Preferred Temperature of Fish and their Midsummer Distribution in Temperate Lakes and Streams , 1958 .

[17]  S. Brandt.  Spatial Segregation of Adult and Young‐of‐the‐Year Alewives across a Thermocline in Lake Michigan , 1980 .

[18]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Temperature as an Ecological Resource , 1979 .

[19]  R. Mccauley.  Laboratory Methods for Determining Temperature Preference , 1977 .

[20]  C. Coutant.  Striped Bass, Temperature, and Dissolved Oxygen: A Speculative Hypothesis for Environmental Risk , 1985 .

[21]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Behavioral Thermoregulation by Fishes: A New Experimental Approach , 1972, Science.

[22]  P. Symons.  Increase in Aggression and in Strength of the Social Hierarchy among Juvenile Atlantic Salmon Deprived of Food , 1968 .

[23]  C. Coutant.  Compilation of Temperature Preference Data , 1977 .

[24]  W. Mclarney,et al.  Effects of increasing temperature on social behaviour in groups of yellow bullheads (Ictalurus natalis) , 1974 .

[25]  D. Cox,et al.  Temperature Selection by Juvenile Striped Bass in Laboratory and Field , 1984 .

[26]  W. W. Reynolds,et al.  Temperature Preferences of Four Fish Species in an Electronic Thermoregulatory Shuttlebox , 1977 .

[27]  K. E. Hokanson.  Temperature Requirements of Some Percids and Adaptations to the Seasonal Temperature Cycle , 1977 .

[28]  J. Hislop,et al.  Observations on effects of feeding level on growth and reproduction in haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus (L.) in captivity , 1978 .

[29]  Stephen B. Brandt,et al.  Thermal Habitat Partitioning by Fishes in Lake Michigan , 1980 .

[30]  J. Magnuson,et al.  Distributional Ecology and Behavioral Thermoregulation of Fishes in Relation to Heated Effluent from a Power Plant at Lake Monona, Wisconsin , 1974 .

[31]  P. Colby,et al.  Cisco (coregonus Artedii) Mortalities in a Southern Michigan Lake, July 1968 , 1969 .