The response of anguilliform fish to underwater sound under an experimental setting
The response of anguilliform fish to underwater sound under an experimental setting
Traditional physical screens designed to prevent fish entering dangerous areas (e.g. turbine intakes) can have negative impacts due to impingement or mechanical abrasion at high velocities. Behavioural deterrents may provide an alternative approach to screening. This study investigated the potential for a continuous broadband sound to modify the behaviour of two endangered species of anguilliform fish, European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis). Experiments were conducted in an experimental channel. Eel and lamprey were respectively released upstream and downstream of an “acoustic maze”. A single individual released per trial encountered two successive chambers that offered a choice of passage through either an ensonified or a control (ambient noise only) corridor with a speaker turned off. Two possible configurations were tested to control for any lateral bias with positions of the activated speakers reversed. The influence of treatment, chamber, and configuration on route selection, rejection, and time to pass were tested. No influence of any of the three factors on route selection was observed for eel. River lamprey tended to pass through the ensonified corridor more often under configuration 2, but only in the first chamber. Both species were more likely to reject the ensonified corridors than the controls, and the time taken to pass these routes was greater for those that did so. For eel, the variation in time to pass was greater for the non-migratory (yellow phase) life-stage. While the acoustic signal used in this study influenced fish behaviour, the response observed would likely be insufficient to induce a strong deterrent effect in the field if used in isolation.
Anguilla, Lampetra, acoustic, deterrent, hydropower, screens, sound
441-451
Deleau, Mathias
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White, Paul
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Peirson, Graeme
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Leighton, Timothy
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Kemp, Paul
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
1 March 2020
Deleau, Mathias
0c5300a5-cb7c-44bc-8630-ad00d4e8bf41
White, Paul
2dd2477b-5aa9-42e2-9d19-0806d994eaba
Peirson, Graeme
1da23731-b9a1-497b-9652-4009083aa8f2
Leighton, Timothy
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Kemp, Paul
9e33fba6-cccf-4eb5-965b-b70e72b11cd7
Deleau, Mathias, White, Paul, Peirson, Graeme, Leighton, Timothy and Kemp, Paul
(2020)
The response of anguilliform fish to underwater sound under an experimental setting.
River Research and Applications, 36 (3), .
(doi:10.1002/rra.3583).
Abstract
Traditional physical screens designed to prevent fish entering dangerous areas (e.g. turbine intakes) can have negative impacts due to impingement or mechanical abrasion at high velocities. Behavioural deterrents may provide an alternative approach to screening. This study investigated the potential for a continuous broadband sound to modify the behaviour of two endangered species of anguilliform fish, European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis). Experiments were conducted in an experimental channel. Eel and lamprey were respectively released upstream and downstream of an “acoustic maze”. A single individual released per trial encountered two successive chambers that offered a choice of passage through either an ensonified or a control (ambient noise only) corridor with a speaker turned off. Two possible configurations were tested to control for any lateral bias with positions of the activated speakers reversed. The influence of treatment, chamber, and configuration on route selection, rejection, and time to pass were tested. No influence of any of the three factors on route selection was observed for eel. River lamprey tended to pass through the ensonified corridor more often under configuration 2, but only in the first chamber. Both species were more likely to reject the ensonified corridors than the controls, and the time taken to pass these routes was greater for those that did so. For eel, the variation in time to pass was greater for the non-migratory (yellow phase) life-stage. While the acoustic signal used in this study influenced fish behaviour, the response observed would likely be insufficient to induce a strong deterrent effect in the field if used in isolation.
Text
V6 - Deleau Maze paper - Final PRW
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 20 November 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 January 2020
Published date: 1 March 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This project was funded by the Environment Agency, Cefas, and the University of Southampton. The authors thank the members of the International Center for Ecohydraulics Research (ICER) who helped during the trials.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Keywords:
Anguilla, Lampetra, acoustic, deterrent, hydropower, screens, sound
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 436334
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/436334
ISSN: 1535-1459
PURE UUID: 112e3e31-5ddd-4fe3-a13e-4688a61d26c5
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Date deposited: 06 Dec 2019 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:05
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Author:
Graeme Peirson
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