Synopsis
Ultrasonic telemetry was used to study the movement and behavior of nine adult muskellunge, 69 to 101 cm in total length. Intensive fish tracking conducted from June to August 1978 produced 1178 contacts, the basis for summer home range determinations. Eight fish established summer home ranges by the time surface water temperatures rose above 17°C in mid-June, and by early July all fish exhibited home range behavior. Individual summer home ranges were 39 to 443 ha (mean = 146 ha) in area as determined by the minimum convex polygon method, and 27 to 73 ha (mean = 63 ha) as estimated by the grid-square method. Six fish had home ranges comprised of two distinct activity centers, 2.0 to 3.5 km apart. Some home ranges spatially overlapped, but occurrences of two fish at a common location were rare. In autumn, six of eight surviving fish remained within or near their summer home ranges. Observations on these eight fish during spring and summer 1979 provided evidence of reproductive and nonreproductive homing behavior
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Journal Paper No. J-11155 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 2236
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Miller, M.L., Menzel, B.W. Movements, homing, and home range of muskellunge,Esox masquinongy, in West Okoboji Lake, Iowa. Environ Biol Fish 16, 243–255 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00842978
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00842978