Key factors explaining critical swimming speed in freshwater fish: a review and statistical analysis for Iberian species.

ABSTRACT: Swimming performance is a key feature that mediates fitness and survival in aquatic animals. Dispersal, habitat selection, predator-prey interactions and reproduction are processes that depend on swimming capabilities. Testing the critical swimming speed (U_crit) of fish is the most straightforward method to assess their prolonged swimming performance. We analysed the contribution of several predictor variables (total body length, experimental water temperature, time step interval between velocity increments, species identity, taxonomic affiliation, native status, body shape and form factor) in explaining the variation of U_crit, using linear models and random forests. We compiled in total 204 studies testing U_crit of 35 inland fishes of the Iberian Peninsula

SUBMITTER: Cano-Barbacil C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7609642 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature