Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Abstract Background Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are widely used in studies of various aspects of fish survival, movement and behaviour. Quality of such studies depends on the fish retaining the tags over the study period and that the tagging procedure or the tag does not influence beha...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Animal Biotelemetry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40317-018-0147-1 |
| _version_ | 1811328154521829376 |
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| author | Anders Foldvik Eli Kvingedal |
| author_facet | Anders Foldvik Eli Kvingedal |
| author_sort | Anders Foldvik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are widely used in studies of various aspects of fish survival, movement and behaviour. Quality of such studies depends on the fish retaining the tags over the study period and that the tagging procedure or the tag does not influence behaviour or survival. Here we document PIT tag retention rates in hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon over a 533-day period from the late juvenile freshwater stage (pre-smolts) to young adults after 1 year in seawater. Fish were marked with 12-mm PIT tags, injected into their body cavity, as age 1+ pre-smolt and scanned for presence of PIT tags five times during the study. Results Tag retention for the entire period was 91% and varied between periods (96.09–99.89%). For individual time steps, daily retention rate was lowest in the first period following tagging (days 0–49). After this period retention rate increased substantially, before again dropping close to initial levels at the two last periods (days 173–533). Length of fish was only significantly related to retention during the first period. No difference in retention rates was found between males and females. A subset of fish without detected tags was X-rayed to verify that lack of PIT detection was due to tag loss. Conclusion The retention rates observed in this study clearly show that tag loss needs to be accounted for when analysing PIT tag data on Atlantic salmon. Further, the temporal changes in retention rate clearly challenge previous assertions that tag loss is something that primarily occurs shortly after tagging or during spawning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:21:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-98da429d7f2d48e591d31e4df0a6bafd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-3385 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T15:21:22Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Biotelemetry |
| spelling | doaj.art-98da429d7f2d48e591d31e4df0a6bafd2022-12-22T02:41:40ZengBMCAnimal Biotelemetry2050-33852018-03-01611410.1186/s40317-018-0147-1Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)Anders Foldvik0Eli Kvingedal1Aquatic Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature ResearchAquatic Department, Norwegian Institute for Nature ResearchAbstract Background Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are widely used in studies of various aspects of fish survival, movement and behaviour. Quality of such studies depends on the fish retaining the tags over the study period and that the tagging procedure or the tag does not influence behaviour or survival. Here we document PIT tag retention rates in hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon over a 533-day period from the late juvenile freshwater stage (pre-smolts) to young adults after 1 year in seawater. Fish were marked with 12-mm PIT tags, injected into their body cavity, as age 1+ pre-smolt and scanned for presence of PIT tags five times during the study. Results Tag retention for the entire period was 91% and varied between periods (96.09–99.89%). For individual time steps, daily retention rate was lowest in the first period following tagging (days 0–49). After this period retention rate increased substantially, before again dropping close to initial levels at the two last periods (days 173–533). Length of fish was only significantly related to retention during the first period. No difference in retention rates was found between males and females. A subset of fish without detected tags was X-rayed to verify that lack of PIT detection was due to tag loss. Conclusion The retention rates observed in this study clearly show that tag loss needs to be accounted for when analysing PIT tag data on Atlantic salmon. Further, the temporal changes in retention rate clearly challenge previous assertions that tag loss is something that primarily occurs shortly after tagging or during spawning.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40317-018-0147-1BiotelemetryPIT taggingTag retentionTag loss |
| spellingShingle | Anders Foldvik Eli Kvingedal Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) Animal Biotelemetry Biotelemetry PIT tagging Tag retention Tag loss |
| title | Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) |
| title_full | Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) |
| title_fullStr | Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) |
| title_short | Long-term PIT tag retention rates in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) |
| title_sort | long term pit tag retention rates in atlantic salmon salmo salar |
| topic | Biotelemetry PIT tagging Tag retention Tag loss |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40317-018-0147-1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andersfoldvik longtermpittagretentionratesinatlanticsalmonsalmosalar AT elikvingedal longtermpittagretentionratesinatlanticsalmonsalmosalar |