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Chemical Senses 23: 207-212,
© 1998 Oxford University Press
Lacustrine Sockeye Salmon Return Straight to their Natal Area from Open Water Using Both Visual and Olfactory Cues
1 Toya Lake Station for Environmental Biology, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University Abuta 049-57, Japan 2 National Salmon Conservation Center, Fisheries Agency of Japan Sapporo 062, Japan 3 Department of Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University Sapporo 060, Japan 4 Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University Sapporo 060, Japan 5 Department of Biology, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University Hakodate 041, Japan 6 Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health Kitakyushu 807, Japan 7 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University Sapporo 060, Japan
Correspondence to be sent to: Dr Hiroshi Ueda, Toya Lake Station for Environmental Biology, Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University 122 Tsukiura, Abuta, Hokkaido 049-57, Japan. e-mail: hueda{at}ccmsl.hucc.hokudai.ac.jp
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Abstract |
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Mechanisms of the amazing ability of salmon to migrate a long distance from open water to natal streams for spawning are still unknown. Lacustrine sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Lake Toya offers an excellent model system for studying the orientation mechanism in open water, because mature fish return to the natal area with a high degree of accuracy. First we examined the percentage of fish returning to the natal area after they were released 7 km south of the natal area. Forty percent of control male mature fish and 25% of the fish blinded by injection of a mixture of carbon toner and corn oil into the eyeball were captured in the natal area within 5 days. Forty-four percent of fish with brass rings (control) and 31% of fish with NdFe magnetic rings which interfere with the magnetic cue were captured in the natal area within 3 days. These experiments suggested that, although the number of blinded fish captured in the natal area was less than that of the controls, the difference was not statistically significant. In the fish captured in the natal area within 3 or 5 days, fish which found the natal area using their olfactory cue after random swimming for a long time and returned to that area may be included. Hence we tracked fish telemetrically using an ultrasonic tracking system, and found that mature males released at a long distance (3.6 or 6.8 km) from the natal area swam straight to the vicinity of the natal area. Interference of the magnetic cue by the attachment of a magnetic ring did not affect their direct return. Blockage of the visual cue caused them to move randomly. These data suggest that lacustrine sockeye salmon return straight to the vicinity of the natal area using their visual cue and finally reach the exact homing point using their olfactory cue.
Accepted 25 December 1997
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