Modelling Penaeid Prawn Larval Advection in Albatross Bay, Australia: Defining the Effective Spawning Population

Abstract

A 3-dimensional numerical circulation model was linked to four larval-postlarval behaviour patterns to establish the origins of postlarvae recruiting into the estuaries adjacent to Albatross Bay, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. The area from which these postlarvae originate is called the 'advective envelope' and it delimits the spatial extent of the effective spawning population. The different behaviour scenarios vary the amount of time the postlarvae are active during the flood tide and the depth at which they change between their diel and tidal activity patterns (transition depth). The envelope with a behaviour scenario that incorporated a 20 m transition depth and a 3 h tidal activity pattern was 1000 km². Incorporation of seasonal winds changed the shape but not the extent of the advective envelopes.