Abstract
Salmon display layer-dependent swimming patterns in open waters. Analysis of the behavior shows that they move within certain microstructure layers of the water. However, anosmic salmon do not demonstrate this behavior, either in fresh-or in saltwater. One explanation for such layer preferences is that salmon detect characteristic odorants from the home river that are localized in a particular layer. The olfactory system of salmon is necessary for home stream detection, and is also very sensitive to odorants that emanate from conspecific fishes. These features combined suggest an important role of the olfactory system and also a possible involvement of kin recognition in homing behavior. A change in the magnetic field surrounding the free-swimming salmon does not influence the characteristic layer preferences of sensory intact animals. However, recent studies have shown that salmon are particularly sensitive to low-frequency stimuli in the range of 0.1 to l0Hz (i.e., infrasound). This fact implies that a salmon may detect linear acceleration to which it is exposed when moving from one layer to an adjacent one. Based on this knowledge, the following scenario is proposed for homing orientation: In open waters salmon swim with small-scale oscillations from one layer with a particular smell to neighboring layers, and thereby gain information about the chemical differences between layers. The salmon may further detect the relative movements of the layers by means of their auditory system. Thus, the salmon can sense the heading of a particular layer and may orient in a countercurrent direction of that layer. If this layer contains characteristic odors of the home stream, such rheotactic behavior will eventually lead the fish to the sources of the attractive chemical signals.
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Døving, K.B., Stabell, O.B. (2003). Trails in Open Waters: Sensory Cues in Salmon Migration. In: Collin, S.P., Marshall, N.J. (eds) Sensory Processing in Aquatic Environments. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-22628-6_2
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