TAG RETENTION, GROWTH RATE, AND SURVIVAL OF JUVENILE PIKE TAGGED WITH VISIBLE IMPLANT ELASTOMER AND CODED WIRE TAGS

I. Piotrowska, Z. Zakęś, A. Kapusta, M. Kozłowski, B. Szczepkowska, M. Szczepkowski, K. Wunderlich

Abstract: The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of tagging of juvenile pike with visible implant elastomer (VIE) and coded wire (CWT) tags. Three size groups of juvenile pike were tagged with average body weights of 2.7 g (group I), 5.2–6.2 g (group II), 13.5–16.9 g (group III). After tagging, the fish were reared in RAS for 48 (group I) or 28 days (groups II and III). Tagging with VIE had no impact on the basic rearing indicators of juvenile pike in groups I and II, but differences were noted among the largest pike individuals (group III). Final body weights and lengths were higher in the control group (P < 0.01). The survival of the fish was also higher in the untagged fish at 96.7%, while that in the tagged fish was 91.3% (P < 0.05). At the end of the experiment the visibility of elastomer tags was 100% in all groups studied. Tagging with CWT
had no impact on the rearing indicators measured in any of the groups. CWT retention depended on the size of the tagged fish; in groups I and II it was 65.0 and 56.5%, respectively, and was statistically significant lower than in group III (the largest fish tested), in which it was 98.6% (P < 0.05). The results indicate that VIE tags are suitable for short-term studies for pike above 2.7 g. High effectiveness with CWT was only achieved in pike weighing more than 10 g.

Keywords: coded-wire tags; pike; tag retention; visible implant elastomer tags

Date published: 2017-09-28