PNNL

Abstract

A new coded electromyogram (CEMG) transmitter was recently introduced to the market to allow broader application and greater flexibility of configurations. CEMG transmitters were implanted into twenty steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and calibrated to swimming speed in a respirometer. Linear regression models showed a strong positive relationship between output from CEMG transmitters and swimming speed. However, when signals from multiple transmitters were grouped, the relationship between CEMG output and swimming speed was less accurate than if signals from individual transmitters were used. The results, therefore, do not suggest that the CEMG transmitters acted similarly in all fish. Calibration data from one transmitter was not readily transferable among multiple fish implanted with the same transmitter, suggesting that the same transmitter implanted in multiple fish also performed dissimilarly. Variation in fish length, fish weight, location of transmitter implantation (distance from snout), and distance between the electrode tips did not account for the variation in models. Transmitters also had a relatively small working range of output at the swimming speeds tested. Nevertheless, new CEMG transmitters appear to have improved capabilities and should allow researchers to examine the locomotory behavior and energetics of smaller fish than previously possible with greater ease and less expense.