Are terrestrial movements of amphibious fish lateral migrations?
Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution
Leninsky prosp., 33, Moscow, 119071 Russia
*е-mail: d.zworykin@gmail.com
The first report on terrestrial movements of amphibious fish was published at the end of the 18th century, but so far very little is known about this behaviour. Several hypotheses were suggested as to why amphibious fish leave the water, but none has been confirmed to date. Short overland movements of amphibious fish between water bodies occur during the rainy season, when weather conditions make this behaviour possible. The spawning peak in these fish is in the same period. Some authors have recently linked these two phenomena, but the role of terrestrial movements as spawning migrations has not been really proven. Furthermore, overland movements of amphibious fish began to name lateral migrations, which does not correspond to the definition of the term. Obviously, terrestrial movements improve plasticity of life-history strategies in amphibious fish in the context of habitat fragmentation. At the same time, these movements are most likely not migrations and are not always associated with spawning. A metapopulation approach to the study of life histories in amphibious fish appears to be promising. This conceptual framework would clarify both the population structure and dynamics, and the role of the different types of movements in providing exchange between subpopulations.
