In a recently published paper, Celestino et al. (2019) investigated the effects of a fish ladder located near the Porto Primavera Dam (Paraná River, Brazil) in order to evaluate if it provided free passage for the migratory fish Prochilodus lineatus. Fish were marked with PIT‐tags and movements were monitored within the ladder over a 3.5‐year period. The main finding was “Our study identified bidirectional movements by P. lineatus through the Porto Primavera fish ladder, including multiple passes by the same fish” (p. 241). It led authors to conclude: “Our results suggest that by providing bidirectional connectivity between upstream and downstream habitats, fishways can be an effective tool for preserving populations of P. lineatus and probably for other species of Prochilodus” (p. 242). Both conclusions, however, may not be correct, because they go beyond the data directly presented in the manuscript. The study overlooked issues related to the spatial scale and experimental design, since it was limited to investigate patterns of movement within the fish ladder alone. In this sense, they encourage the reader to accept patterns and conclusions that were not specifically investigated (e.g., migratory dynamics and conservation success), or that cannot be fully supported by the data (e.g., bidirectional movements and efficient passage). As the conclusions presented in the study have direct implications for the licensing process of hydropower dams and the management/conservation of Neotropical migratory fishes, we provide suggestions to highlight additional important factors and issues that should be considered or addressed in future research.

中文翻译：

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鱼类保护必须超越具体范围：对Celestino等人的评论。（2019）

在最近发表的论文中，Celestino等人。（2019）研究了位于Porto Primavera大坝（巴西帕拉纳河）附近的鱼梯的影响，以评估它是否为迁徙鱼类Prochilodus lineatus提供了自由通道。在鱼上标有PIT标签，并在3.5年内对梯子内的运动进行监控。主要发现是“我们的研究确定了线虫通过波尔图Primavera鱼梯的双向运动，包括同一条鱼的多次通过”（第241页）。它使作者得出以下结论：“我们的结果表明，通过在上游和下游生境之间提供双向连接，鱼道可以成为保护P. lineatus种群的有效工具。以及其他种类的Prochilodus”（第242页）。但是，这两个结论可能都不正确，因为它们超出了手稿中直接提供的数据范围。这项研究忽略了与空间规模和实验设计有关的问题，因为它仅限于调查鱼梯内的运动方式。从这个意义上讲，它们鼓励读者接受未专门研究的模式和结论（例如，迁徙动态和保护成功），或者数据无法完全支持的模式和结论（例如，双向运动和有效通过）。由于研究中得出的结论对水电大坝的许可过程和新热带候鱼的管理/养护具有直接的意义，