Best Practices for Surgically Implanting Acoustic Transmitters in Spotted Seatrout

Abstract

Technological advances have made acoustic tracking of fish an effective means to collect unprecedented migration data. However, one must ensure that fish survive the surgical implantation and retain transmitters, and that their health and behavior are not adversely affected. We performed a laboratory study to examine the most effective surgery technique and suture material for implanting acoustic transmitters into Spotted Seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus. Six treatment groups were used to investigate two ventral incision locations (midline and off-midline) and three suture materials (braid, monofilament, and staples). Overall survival was high for all fish undergoing surgery (75% for surgical controls, and 74% for surgically implanted fish), suggesting that acoustic transmitter implantation can be very successful for Spotted Seatrout. However, female fish had significantly higher survival (85.7%) than male fish (41.2%). Surgery time ranged from 73 to 270 s, and our results suggest that for every second that the surgery time was reduced the odds of increasing survival are 1.5%. Moreover, the surgery process versus tagging material or incision location is the primary cause of mortality. Overall, there was no one treatment that showed distinct differences in survival and transmitter retention; however, for future telemetry studies using Vemco V13 transmitters with Spotted Seatrout, we recommend researchers (1) target fish greater than 425 mm TL, (2) minimize surgery time (preferably 160 s or less), and (3) use an off-midline incision placement closed with two sutures using braid suture material. These techniques will help ensure successful field acoustic tracking studies by increasing the likelihood of Spotted Seatrout survival and transmitter retention. Finally, these methods have applicability to other fishes, particularly Sciaenids, with high potential for success.

Received January 29, 2014; accepted September 9, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We wish to express our gratitude to the Coastal Conservation Association–Texas, the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi (Harvey Weil Sportsman Conservationist Award), and TAMU-CC for funding assistance. We would also like to thank the staff of the TPWD-MDC for water quality monitoring and general assistance with laboratory trials. Finally, we thank the members of the Fisheries and Ocean Health laboratory at Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, TAMU-CC, particularly Matthew Johnson, for their field and laboratory assistance.