For a given species in a particular environment, the success and the harmlessness of transmitter attachment appear to be highly specific. As no information was available for the tagging of the strepie, Sarpa salpa, a suitability study of attachment techniques was needed. Two types of transmitter attachments were investigated: (1) externally, placed on the back of the fish below the dorsal fin by means of two threads sutured through the dorsal musculature, and (2) internally, in the peritoneal cavity. Twenty-five fish were monitored over a 14-d period for survival, surgical healing, injury occurrence and post-tagging behaviour. Even though we observed a 100% survival rate for both groups, with no noticeable buoyancy or swimming alteration, findings from... |