Fecundity (F) of Jasus edwardsii
Hutton (Decapoda:Palinuridae) in the two Victorian fishing zones (Eastern and
Western) was estimated from egg masses collected from 98 mature females
(97–164 mm carapace length, CL) and was found to be related to carapace
length (CL) by the equation F =
0·0316L3.359
(r2 = 0·8539;
n = 571). Size at onset of sexual maturity (SOM),
estimated from samples of the commercial catch (n
= 3891) and analysed to determine the smallest size class in which
50% of females were carrying eggs or possessed ovigerous setae, was
lower in the Western Zone (90 mm CL) than in the Eastern Zone (112 mm CL).
Fecundity and SOM estimates and length frequencies in the commercial catch
were used to estimate the relative reproductive potential (RRP) of each
5-mm-CL size class. The maximum RRP in the Western Zone was attributed to the
size classes of 105 (38%) and 110 mm CL (25%), whereas the
maximum RRP in the Eastern Zone was attributed to the size classes between 130
(40%) and 135 mm CL (16%). This study indicates that the current
minimum legal size limits need to be reassessed and that separate management
strategies for the two zones need to be considered.
Abstract. The freshwater piscifauna of the watercourses of the Barron and Mitchell systems, two northern Australian catchments with adjacent headwaters, was surveyed. Fifty-eight species of fish from 26 families, including several marine vagrants, were sampled from the freshwater reaches of the Barron River, compared to 28 species from 15 families from the Mitchell River. Species diversity and richness was higher in the coastal section of the Barron catchment owing to the influence of marine vagrants and species that were estuarine dependent for part of their life cycle. Detrended correspondence analysis of fish abundance data showed that sites in the coastal Barron catchment and the Mitchell catchment were widely separated in ordination space. Historically, barriers to fish movement determined species composition in both catchments, but there have been major changes in species composition as a result of extensive translocations of native fish into the Barron catchment over the last 50 years. Five species of exotic fish, including the cichlids Tilapia mariae and Oreochromis mossambicus, were established in the Barron system and one species in the Mitchell catchment. Cherax quadricarinatus, a crustacean endemic to western drainages, has been translocated into the Barron catchment and has since become widely established. This has implications for the interbasin transfer of irrigation water between the Barron and the Mitchell catchments potentially providing a mechanism for fish, including the exotic species O. mossambicus, to spread across northern Australia. M F 0 2 0 4 6 F i s h a s s e m b l a g e s t r u c t u r e i n c o n n e c t e d n o r t h e r n A u s t r a l i a n s t r e a m s D . J . R u s s e l l e t a l .
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