Short-term movements of larval and juvenile lumpfish, Cyclopterus lumpus L., in tidepools

Larval and juvenile lumpfish, Cyclopterm lumpus L., which attach to marine algae and eelgrass using a ventral sucker, were marked and recaptured in a series of experiments along Schoodic Peninsula, Maine, U.S.A. A repeat-marking experiment in 1988 indicated immigration and, possibly, emigration in tidepools. Yet, some individuals remained in the same tidepool for up to 25 days. Experiments with marked groups of fish in 1988 and 1989 revealed significant short-term residence of individual lumpfish; up to 79% of marked fish were recaptured in the same tidepool 2 days later, even after major storms. A translocated group of 34 lumpfish left the new tidepool within 1 day, but two individuals returned to the home tidepool within 6 days. Extended inhabitance of tidepools by larval and juvenile lumpfish seems to be a function of availability of food and algal cover.