Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Experimental Analysis Of Fish Sensory Systems: From Behavioural Responses To Physiological Extremes, Roselia Ayala-Osorio Jan 2022

Experimental Analysis Of Fish Sensory Systems: From Behavioural Responses To Physiological Extremes, Roselia Ayala-Osorio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fishes are surrounded by various types of stimuli in their habitats which provide important information about their environments. Here, I investigated how various types of stimuli can affect the behaviour and physiology of two freshwater species: the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas). In chapter 2, I tested for a synergistic response in the round goby to multimodal stimuli, by presenting acoustic, visual, and olfactory stimuli separately and simultaneously. The results showed a significant decrease in the average respiration rate during multimodal stimuli suggesting that a synergistic response to multimodal stimuli …


Studies Of Chemosensory Responses In The Pharynx Of The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Hasan Huseyin Polat Jan 2022

Studies Of Chemosensory Responses In The Pharynx Of The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Hasan Huseyin Polat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The sea lamprey is a basal vertebrate, and the oldest extant species with taste buds. The objective of this thesis was to study the chemosensory responses from the sea lamprey’s pharynx, which is located caudal to oral cavity and medial to seven lateral brachiopores. The pharynx contains taste buds that detect and respond to tastants to inform lampreys about gustatory factors in the environment. The location of these taste buds along the lateral surface of the pharynx was first determined using scanning electron microscopy. Then using electrophysiology, our recordings from these pharyngeal regions containing taste buds picked up responses from …


Transgenerational Effects On The Microbiome Of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha), Mubarak Ziab Jul 2020

Transgenerational Effects On The Microbiome Of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha), Mubarak Ziab

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A critical emerging factor in the fitness of individuals is their microbiome, defined as the community of microorganisms found in and on the body of an individual. Despite the rapidly accumulating evidence of the significant role of the microbiome to host health and disease, there is a lack of studies partitioning microbiome variation into explanatory source components in fish, especially those relating to host genetics. To address this knowledge gap, this thesis made several contributions to estimate the transgenerational effects on the microbiome of an ecologically, economically and culturally important salmonid – Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). To achieve this goal, …


Effect Of Microplastics On The Accumulation Of Pops In Fish, Stefan Grigorakis Jul 2018

Effect Of Microplastics On The Accumulation Of Pops In Fish, Stefan Grigorakis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microplastic are ubiquitous in aquatic habitats and commonly found in the gut contents of fish yet relatively little is known about the retention of microplastic particles by fish. Microplastics also contribute to an anthropogenic organic phase in the environment capable of absorbing hydrophobic organic compounds including persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Relatively little is known about the potential interactions between microplastics and persistent organic pollutant (POP) exposures to fish. In order to determine how microplastic particles affect the accumulation of POPs in fish, I first determined the gut retention of two types of microplastic particles (microbeads and microfibers) in goldfish. Although …


Interactive Effects Of Pre- And Post-Natal Stressors On Chinook Salmon Performance And Fitness, Pauline Marian Capelle Jan 2017

Interactive Effects Of Pre- And Post-Natal Stressors On Chinook Salmon Performance And Fitness, Pauline Marian Capelle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the intergenerational effects of stress is an important factor in determining how populations will respond to changing environments. Stressful maternal environments often lead to perceived negative effects on offspring phenotype (e.g., small size, slow growth, high fearfulness/anxiety), yet these changes may better equip offspring for stressful conditions (i.e., environmental matching), showing that intergenerational effects have the potential to dampen negative effects of environmental stressors. This thesis aims to test this theory by manipulating a maternal signal of stress and measuring offspring phenotype and performance in multiple environments. I treated Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) eggs with cortisol (low dose (LD), …


Is It Appropriate To Composite Fish Samples For Mercury Trend Monitoring And Consumption Advisories?, Ken G. Drouillard, Nilima Gandhi, Satyendra P. Bhavsar, Sarah B. Gewurtz, George B. Arhonditsis, Steve Petro Jan 2016

Is It Appropriate To Composite Fish Samples For Mercury Trend Monitoring And Consumption Advisories?, Ken G. Drouillard, Nilima Gandhi, Satyendra P. Bhavsar, Sarah B. Gewurtz, George B. Arhonditsis, Steve Petro

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications

Monitoring mercury levels in fish can be costly because variation by space, time, and fish type/size needs to be captured. Here, we explored if compositing fish samples to decrease analytical costs would reduce the effectiveness of the monitoring objectives. Six compositing methods were evaluated by applying them to an existing extensive dataset and examining their performance in reproducing the fish consumption advisories and temporal trends. The methods resulted in varying amount (average 34-72%) of reductions in samples, but all (except one) reproduced advisories very well (96-97% of the advisories did not change or were one category more restrictive compared to …


Determination Of The Gut Retention Of Plastic Microbeads And Microfibers In Goldfish 1 (Carassius Auratus), Stefan Grigorakis, Sherri A. Mason, Ken G. Drouillard Jan 2016

Determination Of The Gut Retention Of Plastic Microbeads And Microfibers In Goldfish 1 (Carassius Auratus), Stefan Grigorakis, Sherri A. Mason, Ken G. Drouillard

Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research Publications

Microplastics are ubiquitous pollutants in aquatic habitats and commonly found in the gut contents of fish yet relatively little is known about the retention of these particles by fish. In this study, goldfish were fed a commercial fish food pellet amended with 50 particles of one of two microplastics types, microbeads and microfibers. Microbeads were obtained from a commercial facial cleanser while microfibers were obtained from washed synthetic textile. Following consumption of the amended pellet, fish were allowed to feed to satiation on non-amended food followed by fasting for periods ranging from 1.5 h to 6 days. Fish sacrificed at …


Finding Nemo's Place In A Complex Animal Society: An Exploration Of The Behavioural And Hormonal Correlates Of Dominance In Amphiprion Ocellaris, Eugene Cheung Nov 2015

Finding Nemo's Place In A Complex Animal Society: An Exploration Of The Behavioural And Hormonal Correlates Of Dominance In Amphiprion Ocellaris, Eugene Cheung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exploration of the mechanisms underlying conflict resolution has been key to our understanding of the dynamics driving the formation and organization of complex animal societies. This thesis examines the role of aggression and individual variation on dominance hierarchies and the correlates of expression of cortisol, 11-ketotestosterone, and testosterone on individual social status in novel size-matched Amphiprion ocellaris dominance hierarchies. Here, I report that greater aggressiveness relays higher dominance status during hierarchy establishment, as well as during experimental recruitment of highly aggressive smaller individuals into established groups. Additionally, I show that cortisol expression profiles are related to social status in both …


Assessing The Accuracy Of Fish-Based Indicators Of Biological Condition In Coastal Wetlands Of The Great Lakes, Jeffrey D. Buckley Jan 2015

Assessing The Accuracy Of Fish-Based Indicators Of Biological Condition In Coastal Wetlands Of The Great Lakes, Jeffrey D. Buckley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the quality of biological communities is important in the management of Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands. Biological indicator models can be used to quantify the condition of biotic communities. A number of biological indicators have been developed for use with fish communities in Great Lakes Coastal wetlands. The overall goal of this thesis was to assess the performance of various biological indicators in their ability to identify degradation in wetland fish communities. Biological indicators were assessed with respect to the disturbance gradient against which they was originally derived. Subsequently, the models' utility as diagnostic tools was assessed for use in …


Non-Steady State Mercury Bioaccumulation And Dynamics, Rachel Abma Jan 2014

Non-Steady State Mercury Bioaccumulation And Dynamics, Rachel Abma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored Hg bioaccumulation with age in three Lake Huron lake trout populations, considering effects of growth and trophic dynamics. Hg concentrations and stable isotopes were measured in trout, smelt, round goby, zooplankton and zebra mussels. Trout populations demonstrated exponentially increasing Hg concentrations with age and revealed basin-specific accumulation patterns. High biomagnification Factor (BMF) correlated with low prey densities suggest that physiological and ecological factors regulating fish growth rates such as foraging efficiencies are important in regulating Hg bioaccumulation. Physiological processes affect Hg bioaccumulation, specifically elimination dynamics. Hg in liver, gonads, dorsal muscle, and remaining carcass in pre-spawn, spawning, …


Pressure And Particle Motion Detection Thresholds In Fish: A Re-Examination Of Salient Auditory Cues In Teleosts, Craig A. Radford, John C. Montgomery, Paul Caiger, Dennis M. Higgs May 2012

Pressure And Particle Motion Detection Thresholds In Fish: A Re-Examination Of Salient Auditory Cues In Teleosts, Craig A. Radford, John C. Montgomery, Paul Caiger, Dennis M. Higgs

Biological Sciences Publications

The auditory evoked potential technique has been used for the past 30years to evaluate the hearing ability of fish. The resulting audiograms are typically presented in terms of sound pressure (dB re. 1Pa) with the particle motion (dB re. 1ms–2) component largely ignored until recently. When audiograms have been presented in terms of particle acceleration, one of two approaches has been used for stimulus characterisation: measuring the pressure gradient between two hydrophones or using accelerometers. With rare exceptions these values are presented from experiments using a speaker as the stimulus, thus making it impossible to truly separate the contribution of …