| A fish's swimming ability is important not only under natural conditions such as during predator-prey interactions, seasonal migrations and habitat colonization, but also for avoidance and passage through man-made structures such as dams and culverts. There have been many methods devised to test the swimming performance of fish, but many of these methods have had erratic results and unrepeatable conclusions. Gait transition speed has been suggested as an accurate measure of swimming ability since it is involuntary and has been cited to be size and species independent. In this experiment, the gait transition speed of brook trout was tested and found to be higher in wild fish than in hatchery-reared individuals. It was also established that brook trout gait transition speed was equal to the upper limit of average water velocity in which fish could successfully pass an experimental culvert. The overall results support the conclusion that gait transition speed can be used as a reliable measure of testing the swimming performance of fish. |
