Population structure, movement and habitat preferences of the purple-spotted gudgeon, Mogurnda adspersa

Abstract

We examined the movement patterns and habitat preferences of Mogurnda adspersa in Pattersons Creek, a small, low-order, rainforest creek in Gillies Range State Forest, Far North Queensland, Australia. First, we conducted a capture and recapture study to document population structure and individual movements. Our results show that movement is a prominent feature of population behaviour of M. adspersa, with male gudgeons moving significantly more between pools than females, irrespective of gudgeon size. Second, we quantitatively described habitat characteristics of rainforest pools using point sampling. This data was then combined with capture data to describe the habitat preference of M. adspersa. Our results show that the number of gudgeons was positively related to pool size and decreased with increasing pool velocity. We discuss the results in light of effective management options for the species habitat in general, and Far North Queensland in particular.