Effect of dummy tag on growth and behaviour of common carp Cyprinus carpio and Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus

Abstract

Tags are useful tools to gather information on fish movements, activity, behaviour and habitat. However, the challenges faced their utilization in biotelemetry are limited by the battery shelf-life which is relative with the tags features like size and weight. Methods of tag attachment procedures may vary, hence, surgical implantation is considered to be the best method for long-term fish telemetry studies. In this study, the effects of surgically implanted dummy tags on growth and behaviour of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) were investigated. Twelve common carps and twelve Mozambique tilapias were divided into groups; one as a control group (untagged) and the remaining as treatment groups (tagged). The growth of common carp was then recorded and analyzed 52 days after the tagging procedure and tilapia’s growth and behaviour were analyzed after 63 days. The results show that the surgical implantation of dummy tags in common carp and Mozambique tilapia doesn’t affect the growth of both species; however, tags seem to cause additional stress to Mozambique tilapia and they are clearly indicate that the use of tags affect Mozambique tilapias behaviour.