Native Fish Australia Technical Report #2 A REVIEW OF ATTEMPTS AT THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF THE MACQUARIE PERCH Macquaria australasica WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTION W.T. Trueman August 2007 Native Fish Australia Technical Report #2 A REVIEW OF ATTEMPTS AT THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF THE MACQUARIE PERCH Macquaria australasica WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTION W.T. Trueman August 2007 Published by: Native Fish Australia (Victoria) Inc PO Box 162 DONCASTER VIC 3108 Australia E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.nativefish.asn.au Copyright © 2007 Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the permission of the author or Native Fish Australia (Victoria) Incorporated. All photos in this report are those of the author unless otherwise acknowledged. Cover Photo: Adult Macquarie perch. (Photo courtesy Stephen Kerris.) Artificial Propagation Of The Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica W.T.Trueman Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... i Preface................................................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ............................................................................................................................................2 History....................................................................................................................................................5 Early Attempts....................................................................................................................................5 Lake Eildon ........................................................................................................................................6 Narrandera ..........................................................................................................................................7 Lake Dartmouth..................................................................................................................................7 Native Fish Hatcheries, Violet Town .................................................................................................8 Recent Work...........................................................................................................................................9 Lake Dartmouth..................................................................................................................................9 Wartook Native Fish Culture..............................................................................................................9 Andrew Tonkin.................................................................................................................................10 Native Fish Australia........................................................................................................................10 An Overview and Summary of Work to Date ......................................................................................12 A Review of the Reproductive Physiology & Controlled Reproduction of Fish.......................................13 Environmental Factors Controlling Final Maturation and Spawning...................................................16 Female Maturity and Oocyte Assessment ............................................................................................18 Stage 1 ..............................................................................................................................................20 Stage 2 (Figure2) ..............................................................................................................................20 Stage 3A (Figure 3) ..........................................................................................................................21 Stage 3B (Figure 4) ..........................................................................................................................22 Stage 4A (Figure 5) ..........................................................................................................................23 Stage 4B (Figure 6) ..........................................................................................................................23 Stage 5 (Figure 7) .............................................................................................................................24 Pattern of Oocyte Development ...........................................................................................................25 Wild Fish ..........................................................................................................................................25 Captive Fish......................................................................................................................................28 Discussion on the Ovarian Cycle .....................................................................................................31 Spawning Trials....................................................................................................................................32 Broodstock........................................................................................................................................32 Wild Fish Spawning Trials...............................................................................................................32 (a) HCG and Ovaprim® ...............................................................................................................32 (b) Trials with Wild Fish Containing Asynchronous Oocytes .....................................................32 Captive Fish Spawning Trials ..........................................................................................................34 (a) Large Farm Dam .....................................................................................................................34 (b) Small Ponds ............................................................................................................................35 Other Hormone Trials.......................................................................................................................35 (a) FSH Treatment........................................................................................................................35 (b) Long Term treatment with LHRHa.........................................................................................37 (c) Prostaglandin PGF2α..............................................................................................................37 (d) Treatment with Arachidonic acid............................................................................................37 DISCUSSION ......................................................................................................................................39 Reproductive Failure ........................................................................................................................39 Induction of Ovulation .....................................................................................................................40 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................47 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................48 References ............................................................................................................................................49 Native Fish Australia Technical Report #2 August 2007 i Native Fish Australia Technical Report #2 August 2007 ii Artificial Propagation Of The Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica W.T.Trueman Artificial Propagation Of The Macquarie Perch Macquaria australasica W.T.Trueman Preface Native Fish Australia is a non-profit organisation founded in 1981 and dedicated to the conservation of Australian native freshwater fish. It has state branches in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria with a number of regional branches in those states. Objectives of the organisation include: (1) The promotion of the scientific study, conservation, propagation and management of native fish species, their environment and ecology; (2) The dissemination of information and knowledge of scientific work on native fish and related matters to members, governments, scientific bodies and the general public; (3) The participation and assistance in the collection, preparation and analysis of any information relevant to native fish; (4) The encouragement of members to instigate and participate in, where appropriate, programs or scientific projects related to native fish. The Victorian branch is the largest and most active and one of its activities is the operation of a native fish hatchery using facilities provided by Latrobe University. At this facility members have successfully undertaken the artificial propagation of trout cod, Macquarie perch and Australian bass to assist government departments in the conservation of these species and to provide recreational angling. Native Fish Australia (Victoria) has published this report in order to make more widely available