ALLOMETRY OF HOME-RANGE SIZE IN LAKE AND RIVER FISHES

A data set assembled from published literature supported the hypotheses that (i) home range size increases allometrically with body size in temperate freshwater fishes, and (ii) fish home ranges are larger in lakes than rivers. The allometric model fitted was home range = A .(body size)(B). Home ranges in lakes were 19-23 times larger than those in rivers. Additional analyses showed that membership in different taxonomic groupings of fish, the presence-absence of piscivory, the method of measuring home range, and the latitude position of the water bodies were not significant predictive factors. Home ranges of freshwater fish were smaller than those of terrestrial mammals, birds, and lizards. Home ranges were larger than area per fish values derived by inverting fish population and assemblage density-size relationships from lakes and rivers and territory-size relationships in stream salmonids. The weight exponent (B) of fish home range was lower than values reported for other vertebrates, 0.58 versus a range of 0.96-1.14. Lake-river home range differences were consistent with differences reported in allometric models of freshwater fish density and production.