Lunar periodicity and the timing of river entry in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

Historical catch records of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar from three rivers discharging to the Baltic Sea in an area free from tides and from strong effects of the moon on illumination were analysed to investigate whether timing of S. salar river entry was associated with lunar cycles directly. Althou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Fish Biology
Main Authors: Kuparinen, A., O'Hara, R. B., Merilä, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02255.x
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8649.2009.02255.x
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02255.x
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Summary:Historical catch records of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar from three rivers discharging to the Baltic Sea in an area free from tides and from strong effects of the moon on illumination were analysed to investigate whether timing of S. salar river entry was associated with lunar cycles directly. Although a significant effect of lunar phase on river entry was detected, with more fish entering rivers around the full moon than other phases, the effect of the lunar cycle was very small compared with other sources of variation. Hence, the biological role of lunar cycle as a determinant of the timing of S. salar runs in the investigated populations was negligible, suggesting that lunar cycle per se does not play a role in the timing of S. salar river entry.