Resting behaviour for carp and trout
Normal resting behaviour for Carp.
How carp rest is very much weather dependant. Throughout the warmer months when we tend to have a lot more sun, the carp tend to swim in the top layers of the water and almost sunbath. Often moving very slowly around the surface.
In winter when the temperature drops throughout winter and we have more overcast days, the water temperature drops, lowering the carps metabolism. This means in winter the carp go into a torpid state, and when resting remain almost motionless on the lake or pond bed. Throughout resting in summer and winter, the carp is still able to get a sufficient oxygen supply, by using its operculum to pump water through the gills. Abnormal resting behaviour for Carp.
Abnormal resting behaviour for Carp in colder winter months would be resting in the upper layers of the water, around the surface, again motionless. However erratically swimming around in the colder months would also be considered strange behaviour as carp tend to do a lot more resting in the winter, due to the cold water temperature.
At any time of year, seeing carp gasping for air at the surface is a very bad sign. This means that despite the carps ability to rest whilst getting a sufficient supply of oxygen, the carp is very much struggling to get a sufficient supply and therefore struggling to respire, meaning the water it inhabits is very low in dissolved oxygen. Mainly in winter, erratic behaviour and constant swimming is very abnormal. Carp go into a torpid state, meaning they do very little swimming around. However carp in winter experiencing erratic behaviour and constantly swimming, are usually in discomfort. This will be down to water quality reasons. Skin irritation, usually cased by Ammonia burning the fish's skin, could be the main reason for fish experiencing this behaviour, and can be down to people overfeeding. This feed is not being eaten by the fish, and then rotting and releasing ammonia into the water. |
Normal resting behaviour for Trout
As Trout are usually situated in flowing river systems, finding a place to rest is difficult. As spots with less flow or no flow, will result in the trout not getting sufficient supply of oxygen. And Trout have a much higher demand for dissolved oxygen. So normal resting behaviour for a Trout would be on the river bed, facing the current to ensure a good supply of oxygen. However in much faster flowing water, trout often sit back in a spot still flowing, but not as fast, in order to rest.
Abnormal resting behaviour for Trout.
As with most species, one main abnormal resting behaviour is usually erratic swimming. And is usually caused by water quality problems. Water pollution is quite common in rivers as companies use river water as a cleaner or coolant, then pump it back into the river, so often river water can be quite polluted and some toxic and harmful chemicals such as Ammonia, are often found. Ammonia can cause the fish serious skin irritation, leaving the surface prone to parasites such as anchor worm. Also, Ammonia can affect the gills and irritate them, as they're so delicate this can result in the fish struggling to respire and often causes mortalities. This leads to another abnormal resting behaviour which would be trout gasping at the surface. As trout are naturally in flowing water, they usually have a sufficient supply of oxygen, however gasping at the surface indicated that there isn't enough dissolved oxygen in the water, which again can be caused by pollution, or lack of rain if it is a rain fed river. |