Macquarie Perch Macquaria Australasica in Lake Dartmouth, Victoria
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An assessment of spawning stocks, reproductive behaviour and habitat use of Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica in Lake Dartmouth, Victoria Z. Tonkin, J. Lyon and A. Pickworth 2009 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Technical Report Series No. 188 Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research An assessment of spawning stocks, reproductive behaviour and habitat use of Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica in Lake Dartmouth, Victoria Zeb Tonkin, Jarod Lyon and Andrew Pickworth Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 February 2009 In partnership with: Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Sustainability and Environment Heidelberg, Victoria Report produced by: Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Sustainability and Environment PO Box 137 Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 Phone (03) 9450 8600 Website: www.dse.vic.gov.au/ari © State of Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment 2008 This publication is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical or graphic) without the prior written permission of the State of Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment. All requests and enquires should be directed to the Customer Service Centre, 136 186 or email [email protected] Citation: Tonkin, Z., Lyon, J. and Pickworth, A. (2009). An assessment of spawning stocks, reproductive behaviour and habitat use of Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica in Lake Dartmouth, Victoria. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research. Technical report series No. 188. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Heidelberg, Victoria ISSN 1835-3827 (print) ISSN 1835-3835 (online) ISBN 978-1-74208-976-8 (print) ISBN 978-1-74208-976-8 (online) Disclaimer: This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Front cover photo: left to right: Adult Macquarie Perch, drift sample containing Macquarie Perch eggs, underwater image of spawning aggregations, running ripe female Macquarie Perch and Lake Dartmouth (Zeb Tonkin and Andrew Pickworth). Contents List of tables and figures................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................... v Summary........................................................................................................................................... 1 1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 2 2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Study site.................................................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Fish collection and processing ................................................................................................. 5 2.3 General observation of spawning behaviour and habitat use................................................... 7 2.4 Spawning assessment............................................................................................................... 8 2.5 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................ 8 3 Results ................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Site parameters and water quality .......................................................................................... 10 3.2 Macquarie Perch spawning stock assessment ........................................................................ 11 3.3 Standardised netting data ....................................................................................................... 14 3.4 General observation of spawning behaviour and habitat use................................................. 17 3.4.1 Abundance and distribution of spawning fish ........................................................ 17 3.4.2 Spawning stock behaviour and habitat use............................................................. 17 3.5 Spawning assessment............................................................................................................. 22 4 Discussion.............................................................................................................................. 23 4.1 Status of spawning stock........................................................................................................ 23 4.2 Spawning behaviour and habitat use...................................................................................... 23 4.3 Potential threats...................................................................................................................... 25 4.4 Future research and management recommendations ............................................................. 26 References ....................................................................................................................................... 27 ii List of tables and figures List of tables Table 1 Biology and conservation status summary for Macquarie Perch...........................................3 Table 2. Length and weight data for mature male and female Macquarie Perch collected using all methods for all trips in 2008.. .................................................................................................11 Table 3. Total numbers of fish collected in October, November and December sampling periods by the standardised netting regime. .............................................................................................14 List of figures Figure 1. Lake Dartmouth and major tributaries investigated during the study. Shaded box represents the main study area for fish collection and Mitta Mitta River inflows at current lake levels. ................................................................................................................................4 Figure 2. Drum netting the Mitta Mitta River inflow into Lake Dartmouth. ......................................5 Figure 3. Firm pressure to the abdomen, indicating running ripe female Macquarie Perch; same fish prior to release, showing external tag. ...............................................................................6 Figure 4. Observations of adult Macquarie Perch; the underwater video equipment used during the study and how it was positioned in the river.............................................................................7 Figure 5. Elton glass eel net set just upstream of first set of rapids to collect drifting Macquarie Perch eggs and larvae................................................................................................................8 Figure 6. Daily inflows of the Mitta Mitta River into Lake Dartmouth from September – December 2008.. ......................................................................................................................................10 Figure 7. Total length frequency of mature male and female Macquarie Perch collected using all methods...................................................................................................................................12 Figure 8. Total length – weight relationship of (a) all mature Macquarie Perch collected in the study, and (b) fish > 230 mm TL.. ..........................................................................................12 Figure 9. Total length at age relationship of male (white triangles) and female (black dots) Macquarie Perch collected in 2008.........................................................................................13 Figure 10. Transverse section of a sagittal otolith from a 14-year-old female Macquarie Perch 400 mm TL. ...................................................................................................................................13 Figure 11. Mean ± SE number of Macquarie Perch collected per day in the standardised netting regime for each sampling period. Proportions of fish collected from night and day sets are also presented..........................................................................................................................15 Figure 12. Total length frequency of mature male and female Macquarie Perch collected using standardised netting for all sampling periods. ........................................................................15 Figure 13. Total length frequency of mature male and female Macquarie Perch collected using standardised netting for (a) (October; (b) November; and (c) December.............................16 Figure 14. Mitta Mitta River Study area, illustrating (a) Mitta Mitta River – Lake Dartmouth junction; (b) & (c) location of major aggregations of adult