Comparative spatial ecology of sympatric adult muskellunge and northern pike during a one-year period in an urban reach of the Rideau River, Canada

Abstract

The reach of the Rideau River that flows through Ottawa, Ontario supports a recreational fishery for northern pike (Esox lucius) and muskellunge (Esox masquinongy). The reach is unique not only because such a vibrant esocid-based recreational fishery exists in an urban center, but that these two species co-occur. Typically, when these species occur sympatrically, northern pike tend to exclude muskellunge. To ensure the persistence of these esocid populations and the fisheries they support it is important to identify key spawning, nursery, foraging and over-wintering locations along this reach, and to evaluate the extent to which adults of the two species exhibit spatio-temporal overlap in habitat use. Radio-telemetry was used to track adult northern pike (N = 18; length 510 to 890 mm) and adult muskellunge (N = 15; length 695 to 1200 mm) on 73 occasions over one year, with particular focus on the breeding seasons (early April until the end of May [56 % tracking effort]). For the two esocids, we observed 19-60 % overlap in key aggregation areas during each season and during the spawning period. The minimum activity (average linear river distance travelled between consecutive tracking events) and core range (linear river distance within 95 % C.I. of mean river position) were greatest in the winter and fall for northern pike and in the spring for muskellunge. On average, northern pike were considerably smaller than muskellunge and had lower minimum activities and smaller core ranges, which could be a result of thermal biology, limited suitable habitat, prey availability or predation. Results from this study will inform future management of these unique esocid populations and should be considered before any habitat alterations occurs within or adjacent to the Rideau River.

Muskellunge Spatial Ecology in the St. Louis River Estuary and Southwestern Lake Superior

“…Tags emitted short pulses at random, with a nominal delay of 60 s for 8 months during spring, summer, and fall. The transmitters shifted to a 90‐s ping rate during the four winter months to maximize tag life span during a period when Muskellunge tend to exhibit reduced movement (Miller and Menzel 1986; Younk et al 1996; Pankhurst et al 2016). We selected adults to obtain equal numbers of both sexes and a representative sample of adult Muskellunge lengths.…”

Sport fish movement responses to a littoral zone coarse woody habitat addition

“…Muskellunge are known to be territorial (Pankhurst et al. 2016), and Walleye tend to school and select for deeper water (Hartman 2009), possibly leading to higher retention rates after CWH addition. Smallmouth Bass have been observed to exhibit largescale movement patterns (Scott and Crossman 1973; Brown et al.…”

“…Muskellunge and Walleye tended to remain in a given habitat, while Smallmouth Bass showed a greater tendency to exchange between habitats. Muskellunge are known to be territorial (Pankhurst et al 2016), and Walleye tend to school and select for deeper water (Hartman 2009), possibly leading to higher retention rates after CWH addition. Smallmouth Bass have been observed to exhibit largescale movement patterns (Scott and Crossman 1973;Brown et al 2009) and therefore could have shown greater exchange rates in response to CWH when compared with Muskellunge and Walleye.…”

Efficiency of Northern pike (Esox lucius) stocking in metropolitan France at large spatial and temporal scales

“…Pike can exhibit huge individual variation in habitat use, with documented long‐range movements of up to 300 km, but pike home range is generally much smaller, especially river‐dwelling fish (Skov et al, 2018). In rivers, their linear movements often range from 0 to 5 km, with individuals moving up to 37 km, with an approximate mean of 10 km, during the spawning season before swimming back to their starting location (Koed et al, 2006; Masters et al, 2005; Ovidio & Philippart, 2005; Pankhurst et al, 2016). In line with these findings, other studies on rivers that have shown that pike generally travel a few metres or kilometres around the stocking location, with movements of up to 15 km up and downstream (Cormont et al, 2020; Guillerault, Loot et al, 2018).…”