Movement Patterns and Home Range Fidelity of Bowfin in Oneida Lake, New York

The bowfin is widely distributed through the eastern United States and into southeastern Canada, but because they are not typically valued as a food or sport fish, few intensive studies of their ecology have been undertaken.  In Oneida Lake, New York, catches of bowfin in standardized sampling gears have increased in recent years, presumably reflecting the combined effects of macrophyte expansion following establishment of zebra mussels and warmer summer water temperatures.  We surgically implanted radio transmitters into17 bowfin (9 females, 8 males) during the spring of 2009 and an additional 22 in fall 2009 (11 females. 11 males).  Manual tracking of tagged bowfin was conducted weekly from June-October in 2009 and April-October in 2010 and 2011.  Spring distributions suggested that most fish undertook an annual spawning migration to a large, marshy embayment at the northwest end of the lake, after which they dispersed up to 20 km away.  Most fish showed fidelity to a summer home range over multiple years.  Males tended to occupy smaller home ranges than females and females were more likely to range widely over the lake during the summer.  These results show that bowfin exhibit movement patterns similar to more modern fishes.