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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 60(9)

Does otolith chemistry indicate diadromous lifecycles for five Australian riverine fishes?

N. G. Miles A C D , R. J. West A and M. D. Norman B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.

B Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia.

C Present address: Field Science Centre, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0809, Japan.

D Corresponding author. Email: nmiles10@hotmail.com

Marine and Freshwater Research 60(9) 904-911 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08252
Submitted: 2 September 2008  Accepted: 1 March 2009   Published: 22 September 2009

Abstract

Diadromy is an important characteristic of the lifecycle of many Australian coastal fishes, but many of these species remain poorly studied. The migratory patterns of five riverine fish species from south-eastern Australia were examined using otolith chemistry. Analyses of individual otoliths from wild-caught fishes revealed distinctive lateral variation in otolith Sr : Ca values that provide good evidence for an amphidromous lifecycle for two species: Myxus petardi and Gobiomorphus australis. Gobiomorphus coxii, Potamalosa richmondia and Notesthes robusta displayed Sr : Ca patterns that indicated that these species may have more complex movements between marine and fresh water. Overall, these results provided quantitative data that supported the lifecycles previously hypothesised for most of the studied fish species. However, M. petardi, which was thought to be catadromous, displayed Sr : Ca variations that suggested an amphidromous lifecycle, at least for the specimens examined. These results also provided further evidence to demonstrate that otolith chemistry is a useful tool for studying the movement patterns of diadromous species and this technique will be especially valuable in identifying species that are most at risk from river regulation and barriers to migration.

Additional keywords: amphidromy, barium, catadromy, ICPMS, migration, strontium.


Acknowledgements

This work was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award to NGM and a Science and Innovation Award from the Bureau of Rural Sciences and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. Julian Hughes (NSW DPI) is thanked for his assistance with otolith preparations. Tony Miskiewicz, Travis Elsdon and anonymous referees are thanked for their comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. All experiments were undertaken in accordance with the University of Wollongong’s Animal Ethics Committee (Protocol AE06-17).


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