The research group from the Jill Leonard’s lab at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI, is taking Loligo respirometry into the field. The objective is to evaluate resting and maximal metabolic rate in wild brook trout with the goal of classifying individual fish by metabolic ranking. To accomplish this, Jill’s team is taking a Loligo 4-chambered intermittent flow system to the streamside.

“We have validated field measurement protocols for our metrics with matching lab experiments that compare to traditional experimental parameters. The system will run on a generator for power and use native river water for experimentation and temperature control. Once the fish are ranked, they will be PIT tagged and released back to their native river where we will monitor movement behaviors with stationary and mobile antenna systems.” says Jill Leonard.

Prior research has identified a continuum of movement strategies in the species ranging from stationed at a specific site to wandering throughout the entire river to true migration. This research seeks to correlate movement behaviors with physiological metrics at the individual level to help understand why different life history strategies are selected within partially migrant populations.