Study shows land-locked Atlantic salmon also use magnetic field to navigate

Atlantic salmon. Credit: Timothy Knepp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Well, this blows up the argument that Atlantic salmon that escape their net pens won’t be able to navigate their new surroundings.

A new study shows that Atlantic salmon use the Earth’s magnetic field as a navigational tool—much like their cousins, Pacific salmon—and don’t lose that ability through several generations of fish even after they have been transplanted into a land-locked lake.

The findings suggest that Atlantic salmon, which are widely used in aquaculture, may have greater potential to navigate and thus invade novel habitats if they escape their pens, researchers say.

Results of the study are being published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

LINK (via: Phys.Org)

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