A LABORATORY

FOR FISH BEHAVIOR STUDIES

Marine Biological Laboratory

!\^.-. i : i>J;,9
WOODS HOLE, MASS.

SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC REPORT- FISHERIES No. 271

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The series embodies results of Investigations, usually of restricted
scope, intended to aid or direct management or utilization practices and as
guides for administrative or legislative action. It Is Issued In limited quantities
for official use of Federal, State or cooperating agencies and in processed form
for economy and to avoid delay in publication .

United States Department of the Interior, Fred A. Seaton, Secretary
Fish and Wildlife Service, Arnie J. Suoraela, Commissioner

A LABORATORY FOR FISH BEHAVIOR STUDIES

by

H, William Newman
Fishery Research Biologist
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries

United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Special Scientific Report — Fisheries No. 271

Washington, D. C. : January 1959

The Library of Congress has cataloged this publication
as follows:

Newman, H William.

A laboratory for fish behavior studies. Washington, U. S.
Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, 1959.

8 p. illus. 27 cm. (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Special
scientific report : fisheries, no. 271 )

Bibliography : p. 8.

1. Ichthyology. 2. Zoological laboratories. i. Title. (Series)
SH11.A335 no. 271 597.072 59-60441

Library of Congress

The Fish and Wildlife Service series, Special Scientific
Report — Fisheries, is cataloged as follows:

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Special scientific report : fisheries, no. 1-
iWashingtonj 1949-

no. lUus., maps, dlagrs. 27 cm.

Supersedes In part the Service's Special scientific report.

1. Fisheries — Research.
SH11.A335 639.2072 59-60217

Library of Congress (2]

ABSTRACT

A specialized laboratory has been built in
Seattle, Washington, for obtaining information
about fish behavior. The laboratory includes a
concrete experimental tank, 60 feet long, 20 feet
wide, and 5 feet deep, in which water can be
recirculated at flows up to 40 cf s , and several
smaller tanks for a variety of studies. Features
of the laboratory include facilities for holding
and acclimatizing fish, electronic control units
for electrical studies, a heat-exchange system
for temperature control in small tanks, means for
controlling light conditions, and provisions for
making chemical analyses.

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction 1

Physical facilities 1

Main experimental tank 1

Other experimental areas 3

Special equipment 5

Fish-holding facilities 6

Conditioning and acclimation aquariums 7

Research in progress 7

Literature cited 8

ILLUSTRATIONS

Figs.

1. Floor plan of laboratory building 1

2. Isometric view of tank 2

3. Main tank and headbox with flow-control system 2

4. Main tank with a 5-foot channel 3

5. The main tank used in studies of electrotactic response

of squawfish 3

6. View of main experimental tank from the enclosed

observation platform 4

7. An experimental tank with electrodes installed for

studies of fish in an electrical field 4

8. Interior view of the enclosed platform 5

9. An experimental tank equipped to evaluate small tunnels

used to pass fingerlings 6

10. An experimental apparatus used in studies of fingerling

responses to water flow 6

11. A 4-foot diameter steel tank 7

12. Two of 9 tanks in the aquarium room 7

A LABORATORY FOR FISH BEHAVIOR STUDIES

INTRODUCTION

Intelligent approaches to problems of
fish passage over dams or other obstruc-
tions to migration require interpretation
of fish behavior observed in the field, and
the ability to predict future behavior
under specified conditions. The investiga-
tion of fish behavior in relation to fish
passage problems necessitates that some
studies be in more detail than is sometimes
possible in the field. Laboratory research
is needed in which environmental factors
can be isolated to determine how they affect
the migratory behavior of Pacific salmon
and how they can be related to the design
and operation of fishways, bypasses, count-
ing mechanisms, and guiding devices.

A laboratory for studying fish behavior
has been constructed as a basic unit of the

fish behavior studies initiated by Pacific
Salmon Investigations with headquarters at
Seattle, Washington. This paper describes
these laboratory facilities, demonstrates
how they can be used, and reviews briefly
their use.

PHYSICAL FACILITIES

Main experimental tank

The principal experimental area is a
covered concrete tank (fig. 1) which has
at one end a headbox and at the other end
a sump from which water can be recircu-
lated through the headbox and tcunk (fig. 2,
page 2). Four vertical axial-flow pumps
mounted over the sump, 15 by 30 by 9 feet
deep, can discharge up to 40 cubic feet of
water per second into the headbox, 10 by

Experimental Tank

Walkway

32'

Enclosed
Platform

over
Meodbox

=^

Experimental Area

"#

Aquorium
Room

Floor
Tonk

Temp. Control

Troughs

Walkway

Tank

Tank

Sink

Chemistry--'
Refrig.

86' 10"

|ElecContrcj| \[^

T

O

O Electronic
Pulse

Sump

Unit ^1_

Control
Panels

a

Vert, pumps

Mfump

Generator

52'

Figure 1. — Plan of laboratory building showing relation of machinery deck,
wing and enclosed platform to the main experimental tank.

Headbox

Figure 2. — Main tank showing relation of sump, 40 cfs pumping system and headbox

to the experimental area.

Figure 3. — Main experimental tank and headbox showing flow-control
system and the enclosed platform above the headbox. Openings
of 2-inch inflow pipes can be seen on right wall of headbox.

20 by 10 feet high (fig. 3), where a flow-
control system designed to minimize turbu-
lence produces a relatively uniform flow at
any depth up to 4 feet in the tank.

Designed for a variety of large-scale
hydraulic conditions, channel width ccUi be
varied by the installation of false walls
(fig. 4). This permits channel widths up
to 20 feet, depths to 4 feet, velocities
to 4 feet per second (faster when channel
width is reduced), auid discharge rates of
10, 20, 30, and 40 cubic feet per second
using 1 to 4 pumps in combination. The
tank is also used as a pool (fig. 5). A
coating of asphalt on the walls cUid floor
insulates against electrical grounding and
permits tests using electrical fields in
water (fig. 5).

To maintain flexibility there are no
permanent installations in the tank proper —

only the flow-control system in the headbox
and stop-log guides between the tank and
sump (fig. 6, page 4).

Six-foot areas on each side of the
tank allow passage space for personnel,
limited storage, additional small experi-
mental tanks, aind troughs for temporary
fish-holding. A large deck over the sump,
continuous with the walkways, provides
space for heavy machinery of a more perma-
nent nature, such as the 4 large pumps.

Other experimental areas

Two separate laboratory areas provide
space for other types of studies. The
larger of these is a wing on the main
structure (fig. 1) which includes severcil
general-purpose tanks, provisions for chem-
ical analyses, sink and refrigerator,

Figure 4. — Main tank with a 5-foot channel
used in a study of the effect of
sonic tags on swimming ability
and behavior of adult salmonoids.

Figure 5. — The main tank as used in studies
of electrotactic response of adult
squawfish. An electrode eirray was
enclosed within the tauik and was
energized by the generator and
electronic pulse unit on the deck.

Figure 6. — View of the main experimental teink from the enclosed platform.
Visible at the end of the tank, just ahead of the sump, are stop-log
guides, stop-logs in place, and a picket gate beside the standing
figure. On the deck above the sump (left center) are three racks of
electronic controls. On the rear wall (right center) are control
switches for the various pieces of electrical equipment.

Figure 7. — An experimental tank with electrodes installed for studies of
behavior of fish in an electrical field. Black curtains, as shown
here, are used around many tanks to prevent visual disturbainces while
tests are in progress. Electronic pulse-control units in background.

electrical control equipment, and storage
cabinets .

A smaller area in an enclosed platform
over the headbox (fig. 3) provides for
tanks and experimental apparatus to be set
up for work in convenient isolation. Elec-
trical outlets and water taps are located
along the rear wall. The enclosed platform
was also designed to serve as an observa-
tion platform with an overall view of the
main tcink (fig. 6), and for that reason the
side facing the tank has a 36- inch high
wall and has curtains handing from above.

Flexibility is maintained in the same
manner as in the main tank; the wing room
and enclosed platform have no permanently
installed equipment, but each piece is set
in position when needed. Small pieces of
E^paratus which require a catch basin for
splash or a temperature-maintaining bath
can be set up in the large teink or one of
the smaller ones.

Special equipment

The varied nature of the research in
this laboratory requires special constructed
equipment as well as converted military sur-

plus and staindard commercial apparatus.

Tests investigating the responses of
fish to an electrical field (fig. 7) re-
quire an electric generator and electronic
pulse-control units. The generator and
one set of controls are located on the
machinery deck over the sump. A second
control unit is located in the wing room.

Studies of fish behavior in the daurk
or in very low light intensities are aided
by military-type infrared viewers and
lamps. Infrared illumination (figs. 8 cind
9) permits observations without disturbing
the behavior of the fish (Duncan 1956).

Experiments which require close con-
trol of water temperature are conducted in
the wing room where heat-exchange coils
can be set in the tanks. These coils are
a part of a custom-built heat-exchange
unit that provides heating or cooling as
desired with a regulation of ^ 0.1° C.
The unit will maintain any preselected
temperature from 0° to 25° C. , and it has
a heating rate of 2.1° C. per hour, a cool-
ing rate of 1.5° C. per hour as currently
used with the 300-gallon experimental
system shown in figure 10 (page 6).

Figure 8. — Interior view of the enclosed platform over
headbox. Mounted on tripod are infrared lamp and
viewer used for observing fish in darkened tanks.

Figure 9. — An experimental tank, located
along one of the walkways, equipped to
evaluate small tunnels to be used in
passing downstream migrating finger lings.
Infrared lamp hanging above tank.

Studies of underwater sound and fish
behavior use underwater sound transducers
and hydrophones developed for this purpose.
A more detailed description of this equip-
ment and its past use are given by Moore
and Newman (1956).

Studies in small tanks requiring regu-
lated water flows can be supplied by 2-inch
hose from a high-velocity pump discharging
up to 400 gallons per minute. This pump is
on the machinery deck and pumps from the
sump below.

Most of these studies demand precise
measurements of environmental conditions
such as water velocities, light intensi-
ties, and electric potentials. These are
measured by appropriate standard instruments
such as water current meters, light meters,
oscilloscopes, and vacuum-tube voltmeters.

Fish-holding facilities

The tests performed in the Behavior
Laboratory, because of their number and
variety, require several tanks for holding
fish in small lots separately. Space must
be available for holding several species of
fish, sometimes in rather large numbers.
The facilities to meet this need are grouped
in the fish-holding area. There are 10
circular steel tanks 1 1/2 feet deep (four

figure 10. — An experimental apparatus used in studies of fingerling
responses to water flow. Visible between rear boxes are tubes
connecting heat-exchange coils in boxes to temperature control
unit. The suspended lights are connected through a variable
transformer for light intensity control.

6-foot diameter and six 4-foot
diameter, similar to that
shown in fig. 11). Two addi-
tional wooden tanks of 4-foot
diameter, 2 1/2 feet deep,
provide storage for separate
lots, and two wooden tanks 6
feet in diameter and 3 1/2
feet deep are available to be
set up as needed for extra
juvenile or adult fish. The
fish-holding tanks are all
provided with running water
from the city domestic system.
Three 500-gallon charcoal
filters with a discharge rate
of 150 gpra dechlorinate the
water.

A small bay of Lake Union
into which the holding tanks
discharge was dammed, and
here, in a 30- by 40- foot pond
6 feet deep, special types of
fish such as adult carp (for
blood studies) or adult squaw-
fish (for electrical studies)
are stored until needed.

Figure 12. --Two of 9 tanks in the aqucirium room. Coils
in the tanks connect to the temperature-
control unit. Standard aquarium heaters
and thermostats are used to complete tem-
perature regulation.

Figure 11. — A 4-foot diameter steel tank in the
fish-holding area.

Conditioning and acclima-
tion aquariums

Because the reactions of
fish to certain stimuli may
depend upon the environment to
which they have been condi-
tioned, an aquarium room has
been provided to enable us to
hold fish under specific tem-
perature and light conditions.
A space in a corner of the
laboratory wing was partitioned
off and equipped with nine 60-
gallon aquariums. Each aquar-
ium can be provided separately
with air diffusion stones, air-
driven charcoal filter, elec-
trical immersion heater, lights,
or a cooling coil supplied with
coolant from the heat-exchange
unit mentioned previously (fig.
12). Temperature can be con-
trolled in each aquarium within
the range of 0° to 33° C.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

A major part of our cur-
rent research is a study of the

reactions of salmon fingerlings to water
currents. Water flow serves to guide and
transport fish in the river as they migrate
from the hatching area to the sea. The
orientation of fingerling salmon to the
water flow, their upstream or downstream
movements, variables such as changes in
water temperature, light intensities, cUid
dissolved gas tensions, the age of the fish,
and the season of the year are all to be
studied for their possible role in the up-
stream or downstream movement of finger-
1 ings .

In conjunction with the rheotsixis
study we are conducting tests to determine
the factors which affect fingerling swim-
ming ability. A knowledge of physical
abilities and factors that govern perform-
ance is necessary for proper evaluation of
rheotactic responses. Preliminary tests
have emphcisized the importance of the rela-
tion of water temperature to swimming
jibility .

Studies of the behavior of fingerlings
in an electrical field at present are con-
cerned with minimum voltage-gradients at
which fingerlings respond. Information on
threshold gradients is needed to facilitate
both the design of electrode array installa-
tions and the placement of nonelectrif led
bypasses.

Group behavior of salmon fingerlings
is also being studied. Differences in
behavior of sockeye salmon smolts have been
found in the laboratory to be related to
numbers of fish and spatial relationships.
Laboratory observations indicate that silver
salmon smolts have a very different behav-
ior pattern from sockeye smolts. Group
behavior in restricted spaces may be of
considerable importance in the design of
fingerling bypasses and traps.

These and other studies performed by
the staff of this laboratory are part of a
larger fish behavior research program. Its
purpose is to obtain detailed information
on migratory behavior of juvenile and adult
fish necessary to the design of effective
facilities for fish passage.

LITERATURE CITED

DUNCAN, REA E.

1956. Use of infrared radiation in the
study of fish behavior. U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Special
Scientific Report — Fisheries No.
170. 16 p. 9 figs., 2 tables.

MOORE, HARVEY L. , AND H. WILLIAM NEWMAN
1956. Effects of sound waves on young

salmon. U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Special Scientific
Report—Fisheries No. 172. 19 p.
10 figs. , 2 tables.

INT.-DUP. SEC, WASH., D.C.

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