Exploratory and instantaneous swimming speeds of amphidromous fish school in shallow-water coastal lagoon channels

Abstract : Fish school swimming speeds is essential for ecological and management studies. The multibeam sonar in horizontal beaming provided dynamic echo traces of mobile fish schools. We used two school swimming speed indicators: the average of a series of instantaneous speed values, and the exploratory speed. These swimming speeds were estimated for each fish school observed on the basis of their Euclidian position within the sonar beams. The average ISS values per school ranged from 0.15 m s(-1) to 4.46 m s(-1), while the ESS values per school were lower, ranging from 0.04 m s(-1) to 3.77 m s(-1). Multibeam sonar technology makes it possible to measure fish school swimming speeds in their natural habitat at small spatio-temporal scales. This methodology can therefore be used to analyse in situ their movements, and has a wide range of applications in behavioural studies and management purposes.