Validated estimation of growth and age in the New Zealand abalone Haliotis iris using stable oxygen isotopes
J. R. Naylor A B , B. M. Manighetti A , H. L. Neil A and S. W. Kim AA National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, PO Box 14901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand.
B Corresponding author. Email: r.naylor@niwa.co.nz
Marine and Freshwater Research 58(4) 354-362 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF06088
Submitted: 23 May 2006 Accepted: 11 January 2007 Published: 16 April 2007
Abstract
The growth and reproductive patterns of abalone are central to an understanding of the dynamics of their populations, and provide essential input into many of the stock assessment models currently used as the basis of assessing the sustainability of the fisheries. At present, most of this knowledge is obtained by tag-recapture methods, which are time consuming, often expensive and potentially confounding. The aim of the present study was to determine whether variations in the ratios of oxygen and carbon isotopes in the shells of Haliotis iris can be used to determine age, growth and reproductive patterns. Isotopic analyses of H. iris shells indicated that oxygen isotope profiles within the shells reflected ambient water temperature at the time of shell precipitation, and that these profiles could be used to determine age and growth patterns. To match the variation in isotopic ratios with ambient temperature cycles, we also adopted the novel approach of fitting a growth function to the data sets. The method should allow the collection of abalone growth information over the finer scales more appropriate for the rational management of abalone fisheries. Variations in the ratios of carbon isotopes showed no consistent patterns and, unlike some mollusc species, did not appear to be useful predictors of reproductive status at length.
Additional keywords: growth model, mollusc.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Dr. Michael Uddstrom for supplying SST data, Graeme Moss for providing temperature data from Mahanga Bay, and Malcolm Greig for preparing the salinity and temperature logger. We also thank Paul Breen for statistical advice and other helpful comments, and two anonymous referees for providing constructive comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries project, GEN 2004-01.
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