Influences of illumination intensity on the nearest neighbour distance in coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch

1095-8649

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Biology

Effects of illumination intensity on the nearest neighbour distance (NND) of coho salmon in an experimental aquarium were studied under illumination intensities ranging from 0 to 4000 Ix. The NNDs in sighted (intact) fish were divided into three groups according to the illumination intensities; the largest [1.15 times fork length (f.l.)] at 0 1x, the medium (0.78 to 0.84 f.l.) at 0.01 to 0.4 1x, and the least (0.60 to 0.66 f.l.) at 4–4000 1x. The fact that NNDs under 4 1x or higher illumination conditions were significantly smaller than those under 0.01 to 0.4 1x conditions suggests a change from photopic to scotopic vision. Blinded fish exhibited constant NNDs irrespective of illumination intensity and the value was similar to that of sighted fish under the 0 1x condition. The NNDs of blinded fish and sighted fish exposed to 0 1x were larger than the simulated NND calculated by hypothesizing that fish distribute randomly in the experimental aquarium. These results indicate that NND in a coho school is maintained primarily by vision, however, the NND is not determined by vision alone but by integrated senses.

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