Small home range in southern Australia's largest resident reef fish, the western blue groper (Achoerodus gouldii): implications for adequacy of no-take marine protected areas

Abstract

No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) represent an effective biodiversity conservation tool for a range of species including resident reef fishes that are intrinsically vulnerable to overfishing and other localised impacts. The western blue groper (Achoerodus gouldii) is the largest permanent-resident reef teleost in southern Australian waters and has the second-oldest recorded age of any labrid at 70 years. Acoustic telemetry was used to investigate whether adult A. gouldii can be effectively protected within adequately sized no-take MPAs. Ten passive acoustic receivers tracked the movements of 15 A. gouldii individuals (69–112-cm total length; 7–31-kg weight) at a site off north-western Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Most of the fish displayed high site fidelity (91–100% residence time for 10 of the 11 fish with useful data) for a narrow strip of fringing coastal reef (~1-km length by ~40-m width) throughout a 12-month period. Mean home-range along-shore length and area were estimated at 1076 ± 83 m (s.e.), and 45 188 ± 3497 m2, respectively (n = 11 fish with useful data). Comparison with other resident temperate-reef teleosts indicated no relationship between fish length and home-range area, and that A. gouldii has a relatively small home range. The high site fidelity and small home range of adult A. gouldii individuals makes localised populations amenable to a high level of protection within no-take MPAs.

Contrasting Fish Behavior in Artificial Seascapes with Implications for Resources Conservation

“…Some fish species show clear resident movement patterns [64], [76], [77] while others have different individual movement dynamics [28], [78], [79]. In our study, we observed that the behavioral patterns of white seabream differed not only between resident and transient fish, but also in the diel habitat use of resident individuals.…”

“…Payne et al [54] showed that the observed diel detection pattern of cuttlefish ( Sepia apama ) was solely due to fluctuating diel detection probabilities, which decreased at night due to environmental noises. Since that work, some studies have integrated control tags into their study design to validate their detection patterns [27], [64]. Diel variations of detection probabilities were notably noticed in the study of Bryars et al [64], carried out on a heterogeneous coastal reef with sandy bottoms and seaweed along Kangaroo Island in South Australia.…”

“…Since that work, some studies have integrated control tags into their study design to validate their detection patterns [27], [64]. Diel variations of detection probabilities were notably noticed in the study of Bryars et al [64], carried out on a heterogeneous coastal reef with sandy bottoms and seaweed along Kangaroo Island in South Australia.…”

A Herbivore Knows Its Patch: Luderick, Girella tricuspidata, Exhibit Strong Site Fidelity on Shallow Subtidal Reefs in a Temperate Marine Park

“…Firstly, we calculated a Residency Index (RI) [9], [37] to give an estimate of site fidelity. This was calculated as the number of detection days for each fish on any given receiver divided by the total number of possible detection days, multiplied by one hundred to express as a percentage.…”

Spatial dynamics of the Argentine sandperch, Pseudopercis semifasciata (Pinguipedidae), in temperate rocky reefs from northern Patagonia, Argentina

“…This is the case for many species belonging to the families Cheilodactylidae (Lowry and Suthers 1998), Cottidae (Mireles et al 2012), Labridae (Barrett 1995;Arendt et al 2001;Edgar et al 2004;Topping et al 2005;Bryars et al 2012), Monacanthidae (Barrett 1995;Edgar et al 2004), Pempheridae (Annese and Kingsford 2005), Pinguipedidae (Mace and Johnston 1983;Cole et al 2000;Carbines and McKenzie 2004), Scorpaenidae (Matthews et al 1987), Sebastidae (Jorgensen et al 2006;Green and Starr 2011), Serranidae (Lembo et al 1999;Lowe et al 2003;Irigoyen 2010), Sparidae (Willis et al 2001;Griffiths and Wilke 2002;Parsons et al 2003;Kerwath et al 2007), and Syngnathidae (Connolly et al 2002;Moreau and Vincent 2004). The ubiquitousness of reduced mobility in temperate reef species suggests that MPAs, as well as other spatial management strategies, may be adequate tools for protecting these species (Gunderson et al 2008).…”