Advances in underwater camera technology provide an affordable means to quantify the environmental conditions under which fish spawn. This information is important for investigating spawning ecology, managing habitat, or providing information for captive breeding programs. We deployed 12 modified security cameras underwater to identify environmental conditions related to the spawning behavior of the critically endangered Moapa Dace Moapa coriacea, a Mojave Desert stream‐dwelling cyprinid that had never been observed spawning and that had fallen to a low of 459 individual fish 4 years prior to this study. Camera sites were selected systematically along the stream to represent the variety of conditions available. We divided the field of view in front of each camera into a grid, and we estimated both the available environment and the habitat over which Moapa Dace showed spawning behavior. From over 4,000 10‐min video clips that were randomly selected for analysis, 13 spawning events were identified. Using nonparametric contingency table analyses, we found that Moapa Dace selected depths between 30 and 34 cm, water velocities between 0.11 and 0.17 m/s, cobble substrate, and overhead instream cover. Although the recorded sample size of spawning events was small (13), our sample represents a large proportion of events given that the world's entire population of Moapa Dace at the time was approximately 650 fish distributed over multiple kilometers of stream length. Environmental conditions identified by this study were replicated in laboratory facilities to successfully propagate Moapa Dace for the first time in captivity. These propagation methods are now used in a management setting by the Nevada Department of Wildlife to maintain a captive population of this rare fish. Camera methods can be effective in helping to identify spawning conditions where water clarity is sufficient.

中文翻译：

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使用水下摄像来量化产卵时濒危的Moapa Dace所利用的条件

水下相机技术的进步提供了一种可负担的方法来量化鱼类产卵的环境条件。此信息对于调查产卵生态，管理栖息地或为圈养繁殖计划提供信息非常重要。我们在水下部署了12部经过修改的安全摄像机，以识别与极度濒危的Moapa Dace Moapa coriacea的产卵行为有关的环境条件，这是从未出现过的莫哈韦沙漠溪流鲤科鱼，在这项研究之前的4年，它已降至459只鱼的低位。沿溪流系统地选择了摄像机位置，以代表可用的各种条件。我们将每台摄像机前面的视野划分为一个网格，并估算了Moapa Dace表现出产卵行为的可用环境和栖息地。从随机选择的4,000多个10分钟视频剪辑中，识别出13个生成事件。使用非参数列联表分析，我们发现Moapa Dace选择了30到34 cm之间的深度，0.11到0.17 m / s之间的水速，卵石基质和高架河道覆盖物。尽管记录的产卵事件样本量很小（13），考虑到当时世界上整个Moapa Dace种群约有650条鱼分布在多公里的河流长度上，因此我们的样本代表了很大比例的事件。这项研究确定的环境条件已在实验室设施中复制，以成功在圈养条件下首次成功繁殖了Moapa Dace。内华达州野生动物局现在在管理环境中使用了这些繁殖方法，以维持这种稀有鱼类的圈养种群。相机方法可有效帮助识别水质足够的产卵条件。这项研究确定的环境条件已在实验室设施中复制，以成功在圈养条件下首次成功繁殖了Moapa Dace。内华达州野生动物局现在在管理环境中使用了这些繁殖方法，以维持这种稀有鱼类的圈养种群。相机方法可有效帮助识别水质足够的产卵条件。这项研究确定的环境条件已在实验室设施中复制，以成功地在圈养条件下首次成功繁殖了Moapa Dace。内华达州野生动物局现在在管理环境中使用了这些繁殖方法，以维持这种稀有鱼类的圈养种群。相机方法可有效帮助识别水质足够的产卵条件。