Homing Tendency of Three Piscivorous Fishes in a North Temperate Lake

Abstract

Establishment and use of home ranges is one important component of the way fishes use resources. We evaluated the homing tendencies of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, smallmouth bass M. dolomieu, and yellow perch Perca flavescens in a small unexploited lake in Michigan between 1988 and 1990. Homing tendency was estimated as the probability of an individual fish being recaptured at its original site of capture after being moved to a common release site in the lake. All three species demonstrated significant homing tendencies. Yellow perch demonstrated the greatest homing tendency, followed by largemouth bass and then smallmouth bass. For all species, the probability of a recapture at the original site of capture increased with the number of times an individual was caught. Our analysis demonstrates that co-occurring species show differing tendencies to seek out home ranges, and therefore, exploit resources in different ways in a freshwater piscivore community.