Behaviour of growth hormone transgenic coho salmon O ncorhynchus kisutch in marine mesocosms assessed by acoustic tag telemetry

Abstract

Underwater acoustic tag telemetry was used to assess behavioural differences between juvenile wild‐type ( i.e. non‐transgenic, NT ) and growth hormone ( GH ) transgenic (T) coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in a contained simulated ocean environment. T O. kisutch were found across days to maintain higher baseline swimming speeds than NT O. kisutch and differences in response to feeding were detected between T and NT genotypes. This is the first study to assess behaviour of GH transgenic salmonids in a marine environment and has relevance for assessing whether behavioural effects of GH overexpression seen in freshwater environments can be extrapolated to oceanic phases of the life cycle.

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