Behavioural response of Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to acoustic stimuli in a small stream

Sea lamprey are invasive in the Laurentian Great Lakes and parasitically feed on valued fishes. Migration barriers and selective pesticides are used to control sea lamprey, but there is a desire to develop additional control tools such as traps with non-physical deterrents. Sound has been used as a deterrent for other invasive species but its potential for manipulating sea lamprey behavior in natural stream conditions remains untested. Here, behavioral responses of upstream migrating adult sea lamprey in response to low frequency sounds of 70 or 90 Hz was tracked in a small stream (8 m wide) using passive integrated transponder (PIT) telemetry. The low frequency sounds shifted sea lamprey distribution with up to 30% more sea lamprey detected on PIT antennas without sound compared to PIT antennas with sound playing. Future studies could continue testing low frequency sounds in larger rivers with larger speakers for use as a natural deterrent at sea lamprey barriers to push sea lamprey toward traps.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author