In-stream behaviour of threatened fishes and their food organisms based on remote video monitoring

Can remote underwater video be used to investigate the in-stream behaviour of small fishes and decapods? Diel activity of two threatened freshwater fishes (Macquaria australasica and Gadopsis bispinosus), a palaemonid prawn and an atyid shrimp, was established from remote underwater video in a pool of an upland stream in the current study. Decapods and large fishes (>5 cm TL) were nocturnal, whereas, small fishes (<5 cm TL) were diurnal. The suitability of using underwater video to quantify short-term (seconds) behavioural interaction among individuals was also demonstrated, with early-juvenile-phase Gadopsis bispinosus exhibiting interference competition on 35% of occasions when two or more individuals were observed. This study demonstrates that remote underwater video is useful for observing the in-stream behaviour of threatened freshwater fauna where other techniques are not viable, and presents sub-sampling of video as a means of reducing video processing time in assessing fish diel activity patterns.

[1]  A. D. Robertis,et al.  Size‐dependent visual predation risk and the timing of vertical migration: An optimization model , 2002 .

[2]  Fiona Dyer,et al.  Identifying the Influence of Channel Morphology on Physical Habitat Availability for Native Fish: Application to the Two-spined Blackfish (Gadopsis bispinosus) in the Cotter River, Australia. , 2004 .

[3]  D. Bellwood,et al.  Light sensitivity in larval fishes: Implications for vertical zonation in the pelagic zone , 2000 .

[4]  Douglas R. Hatch,et al.  A Computerized Editing System for Video Monitoring of Fish Passage , 1998 .

[5]  T. Dayan,et al.  Partitioning of Time as an Ecological Resource , 2003 .

[6]  S. Midgley,et al.  Spawning behaviour of the freshwater catfish tandanus tandanus (Plotosidae) , 1981 .

[7]  C. McAlpine,et al.  Movements of marine fish and decapod crustaceans: process, theory and application. , 2003, Advances in marine biology.

[8]  P. Cadwallader,et al.  The Macquarie perch, Macquria australasica (Pisces: Percichthyidae), of Lake Eildon, Victoria , 1977 .

[9]  M. Lintermans.  The ecology of the two-spined blackfish Gadopsis Bispinosus (Pisces: Gadopsidae) , 1998 .

[10]  J. W. Short.  A Revision of Australian River Prawns, Macrobrachium (Crustacea: Decapoda: Palaemonidae) , 2004, Hydrobiologia.

[11]  Russell J. Schmitt,et al.  Competition for shelter space causes density-dependent predation mortality in damselfishes , 2002 .

[12]  D. Bellwood,et al.  Ultraviolet photosensitivity and feeding in larval and juvenile coral reef fishes , 2007 .

[13]  R. Pidgeon,et al.  Studies on fish movement dynamics in a tropical floodplain river: Prerequisites for a procedure to monitor the impacts of mining , 1995 .

[14]  Jacopo Aguzzi,et al.  Ontogenetic changes in vertical migratory rhythms of benthopelagic shrimps Pasiphaea multidentata and P. sivado , 2007 .

[15]  Kevin Warburton,et al.  Microhabitat use by the rainbowfish Melanotaenia duboulayi in a subtropical Australian stream , 2002, Journal of Ethology.

[16]  M. Thoms,et al.  A Large-scale, Hierarchical Approach for Assessing Habitat Associations of Fish Assemblages in Large Dryland Rivers , 2006, Hydrobiologia.

[17]  R. Babcock,et al.  A baited underwater video system for the determination of relative density of carnivorous reef fish , 2000 .

[18]  M. Shortisa,et al.  of the Status and Trends in Underwater Videometric Measurement , 2007 .

[19]  J. A. Marchant,et al.  Fish sizing and monitoring using a stereo image analysis system applied to fish farming , 1995 .

[20]  J. Thiem,et al.  Diel Activity of the Endangered Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariensis) in the Murrumbidgee River , 2008 .

[21]  S. Frusher,et al.  Remote multi‐camera system for in situ observations of behaviour and predator/prey interactions of marine benthic macrofauna , 2005 .

[22]  P. Gehrke,et al.  Large-scale patterns in species richness and composition of temperate riverine fish communities, south-eastern Australia , 2000 .

[23]  I. Potter,et al.  Biology of the nightfish, Bostockia porosa Castelnau, in a south-western Australian River , 1990 .

[24]  G. De’ath,et al.  Comparison of baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) and prawn (shrimp) trawls for assessments of fish biodiversity in inter-reefal areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park , 2004 .

[25]  Alan Wade,et al.  The vulnerability of water supply catchments to bushfires: impacts of the January 2003 wildfires on the Australian Capital Territory , 2006 .

[26]  Kwang-Tsao Shao,et al.  AN UNDERWATER CAMERA SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME CORAL REEF FISH MONITORING , 2007 .

[27]  S. G. Reebs.  Plasticity of diel and circadian activity rhythms in fishes , 2002, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

[28]  P. Hanson,et al.  Wireless Sensor Networks for Ecology , 2005 .

[29]  Using underwater video to directly estimate gear selectivity: the retention probability for walleye (Sander vitreus) in gill nets , 2004 .

[30]  A. Covich,et al.  The importance of night-time observations for determining habitat preferences of stream biota , 2000 .

[31]  J. Partridge.  The colour sensitivity and vision of fishes , 1990 .

[32]  M. Kennard,et al.  Guyu wujalwujalensis, a new genus and species (Pisces: Percichthyidae) from north-eastern Queensland, Australia. , 2001 .

[33]  B. Ebner,et al.  A possible false negative: Lack of evidence for trout predation on a remnant population of the endangered Macquarie perch, Macquaria australasica, in Cotter Reservoir, Australia , 2007 .