Seasonal Movement Patterns of Walleye (sander vitreus) in Muskegon River and Musekgon Lake

[摘要] Abstract Walleye (Sander vitreus) are known to travel long distances betweenspawning, foraging and over wintering habitats. In the Muskegon system walleye havethe choice of moving between Muskegon River, Muskegon Lake and Lake Michiganthroughout the year. The purpose of this study was to determine the seasonalmovement of walleye in the Muskegon system.In 2004 and 2005 a total of 15 walleye were implanted with radio transmitters and5 with ultrasonic transmitters. During March, April, and May walleye were located inMuskegon River, near Croton Dam, presumably to spawn. By June 10 of 12 fishtracked had departed the river for Muskegon Lake or left the Muskegon system. InJune, July and August 85% (17/20) of tracked walleye inhabited Muskegon Lake orwere outside the Muskegon system. From September through February 6 of 7 trackedfish were located in lacustrine habitat. I documented one walleye periodically travelingbetween Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan during November and December. Basedon movement results telemetry data were categorized into three time periods; spring,which included pre- and post spawning periods (March – May), summer (June –August), and winter (September – February).Range (total distance displaced) of tagged walleye was greatest during springdue to spawning migrations in Muskegon River. Spring range of all walleye varied from3,467 to 150,900 m; summer range varied from 131 to 46,114 m; and winter range from326 to 42,650 m. There were significant differences between spring and summerranges (p< 0.001) and between spring and winter ranges (p = 0.024), but not between 2 summer and winter ranges (p = 0.223). During summer, total range of fish inhabitingMuskegon River was significantly different than those fish in Muskegon Lake. Thesedifferences between Muskegon River and Lake are attributed to the energetic costs forlarge walleye to search long distances for prey in flowing water versus searching forprey in the lacustrine environment. Movement results from this study emphasize theimportance of the habitat connection within this system, and may also assist managersin determining when and where to calculate population estimates.

[发布机构] University of Michigan

[效力级别] Sander Vitreus

[关键词] Walleye;Sander Vitreus;Natural Resources and Environment;Science;School of Natural Resources & Environment