An ultrasonic biotelemetry system for the continuous monitoring of tail-beat rate from free-swimming fish

Citation

Ross L, Watts W & Young AH (1981) An ultrasonic biotelemetry system for the continuous monitoring of tail-beat rate from free-swimming fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 18 (4), pp. 479-490. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1981.tb03789.x

Abstract
A telemetry system for the continuous monitoring of tail beats, and hence swimming activity, from loch-dwelling brown trout, Salmo trutta L., is described. Tail beats are detected by electromyography and are transmitted using a specially-developed miniature ultrasonic transmitter. The output from the transmitter is relayed to a remote recording station using a radio-transponder buoy. Data analysed to date show that on average fish are active for only 9% of the time. Tail beat rates rarely exceeded 2.5 tail-beats per second (TB/s) corresponding to a velocity of 1 body length per second. The fish showed a ‘preferred' tail-beat rate of 1.0-2.0 TB/s and consequently they rarely swam at speeds which would incur oxygen debt.

Journal
Journal of Fish Biology: Volume 18, Issue 4