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1 November 2009 Behavioral Responses by Migratory Chum Salmon to Amino Acids in Natal Stream Water
Yuzo Yamamoto, Hiroshi Ueda
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Abstract

We propose that amino acids in natal stream water have important roles in Pacific salmon homing. This study hypothesized that amino acids found in natal stream water have a role in the ability of mature male chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) to home to the Osaru River (OR), Hokkaido, Japan. Behavioral experiments were conducted in a two-choice test tank using various combinations of control water (natural Toya Lake water; NLW and three artificial stream waters using amino acids: 1) artificial OR water (AOR); 2) AOR without L-glutamic acid, the major amino acid in OR water (AOR-E); and 3) artificial water matching another stream (ALS) that had much higher amino acid concentrations than OR. In behavioral tests, the fish did not select between AOR and AOR-E, but still chose AOR over NLW, AOR-E over NLW, and AOR over ALS. These results suggest that migratory male chum salmon respond to amino acid mixtures in their natal stream water and appear to be affected by multiple amino acids.

© 2009 Zoological Society of Japan
Yuzo Yamamoto and Hiroshi Ueda "Behavioral Responses by Migratory Chum Salmon to Amino Acids in Natal Stream Water," Zoological Science 26(11), 778-782, (1 November 2009). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.26.778
Received: 21 April 2009; Accepted: 31 July 2009; Published: 1 November 2009
KEYWORDS
Amino acids
chum salmon
homing migration
olfaction
selective behavior
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