The hydrodynamic trails of Lepomis gibbosus (Centrarchidae), Colomesus psittacus (Tetraodontidae) and Thysochromis ansorgii (Cichlidae) investigated with scanning particle image velocimetry.

The hydrodynamic trails of fish belonging to the families Centrarchidae, Tetraodontidae and Cichlidae were investigated. Water movements were measured in six horizontal planes, spaced 10-12 mm apart, for up to 5 min after the passage of a fish, using a computer controlled array of modulated laser diodes. We measured continuously and non-continuously swimming fish. Water velocities decayed rapidly in the leading seconds after the passage of a fish, but could still be measured for a period considerably longer than that. In still water (median water velocity <0.5 mm s(-1)), the hydrodynamic trails of Lepomis gibbosus lasted for more than 5 min. The trails of Colomesus psittacus and Thysochromis ansorgii could be detected for more than 30 s and more than 3 min, respectively. The water disturbance left behind by these fish was sufficient to be sensed by a piscivorous predator at a distance where vision or hearing frequently fail. Acoustic stimuli estimated from a dipole model in a distance that would be covered by the tested fish in 1 min (4-25 m) were 1.5 x 10(-7) to 3.1 x 10(-10) m s(-2), while the hearing threshold of a perch is three orders of magnitude above that. By contrast, the fish wakes after 1 min (except for one Colomesus wake) contained water velocities between 0.95 and 2.05 mm s(-1), which are within the detection range of hydrodynamic sensory systems. The three species differed with respect to water velocities, the spatial extent of the fish-generated water disturbances and the structure of the wake.