How fast is too fast? Water velocity differentially affects growth of four Gila River, native cyprinids

Understanding trade-offs associated with occupying various aquatic habitats provides a mechanistic understanding of habitat needs that can be used to evaluate the consequences of habitat loss or alteration. We used instream enclosures and field observations to identify how velocity affects the growth rates of four native species in the upper Gila River basin: longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus), two species of no conservation concern, and loach minnow (Tiaroga cobitis) and spikedace (Meda fulgida), two federally endangered species. Elevated velocity was predicted to increase food delivery through drift or stimulation of benthic primary production. Energetic costs of high-velocity habitat were predicted to vary with morphology and behaviour and be lowest for speckled dace and loach minnow because they are adapted to occupy interstitial spaces of the substrate in riffles. Spikedace and longfin dace should perform best in moderate velocities, where the trade-off between exposure to drifting macroinvertebrates outweighs the energetic costs of maintaining position in the water column. Growth rates of loach minnow and speckled dace increased in higher velocities, but contrary to our initial predictions, spikedace growth rates also increased in high-velocity habitats while longfin dace grew fastest in low-velocity habitats; similar to the locations these species occupied based on field observations. These results indicate that for spikedace, the increased abundance of drifting macroinvetebrates in high-velocity habitats outweighs the energy expenditure, but for longfin dace the energetic costs of occupying moderate to high-velocity habitats outweigh the benefit to increased food availability. Our experiment provides a mechanistic understanding of habitat requirements across species and may inform predictions on how modifications or restoration of riverine ecosystems influence native fish diversity.