Tag retention, survival and growth of marron Cherax tenuimanus (Crustacea : Decapoda) marked with coded micro wire tags
Martin de GraafWestern Australia Marine and Fisheries Research Laboratories, PO Box 20, North Beach, WA 6920, Australia. Email: martin.degraaf@fish.wa.gov.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 58(11) 1044-1047 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07136
Submitted: 25 July 2007 Accepted: 16 October 2007 Published: 3 December 2007
Abstract
Detailed information on the growth and survival of small, juvenile crustaceans during the earliest part of their benthic life is rare. Tagging crustaceans is difficult; external tags can be lost during moulting, negatively effect growth, and owing to their size can only be used in larger (>50 mm carapace length) (sub)adult individuals. To evaluate the suitability of small internal, coded micro wire tags (<1 mm) to mark marron, Cherax tenuimanus, a laboratory trial was conducted to compare growth and survival of juvenile (<20 mm orbital-carapace length) marked and unmarked marron. After 394 days no significant differences in growth or survival were observed between tagged and control groups. Mortality was high (~80%) but similar between both treatments. Tag loss, ~12% between Day 1 and Day 54, appeared to be confined to the first post-tag moult. No further tag loss was observed during the remaining 340 days of the experiment. Mark–recapture programs could provide the first detailed estimates of growth and survival of C. tenuimanus under natural conditions, enhancing the sustainable management of the declining recreational marron fishery. The present study illustrates the potential usefulness of coded micro wire tags as a tool in crustacean biology and fisheries management.
Additional keywords: fisheries management, freshwater crayfish, mark–recapture studies, Parastacidae.
Acknowledgements
I thank Sam Ibbott and the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) for assisting with the tagging of juvenile marron and for lending their CWT tagging gear. Thanks also to Nick Caputi, Roy Melville-Smith, Stephen Beatty, Ian Wright and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Cameron Hugh is acknowledged for his efforts in maintaining the tanks and marron. The present study was supported by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC 2003/027).
Beatty, S. J. , Morgan, D. L. , and Gill, H. S. (2004). Biology of a translocated population of the large freshwater crayfish, Cherax cainii Austin & Ryan 2002 in a Western Australian river. Crustaceana 77(11), 1329–1351.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Forcucci, D. , Butler, I. V. , and Hunt, J. H. (1994). Population dynamics of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, in Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science 54, 805–818.
Jones, J. B. (1981). Growth of two species of freshwater crayfish (Paranephrops spp.) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 15, 15–20.
Kneib, R. T. , and Huggler, M. C. (2001). Tag placement, mark retention, survival and growth of juvenile white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus Perez Fafante, 1969) injected with coded wire tags. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 266, 109–120.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McPherson, R. (2002). Assessment of T-bar anchor tags for marking the blue swimmer crab Portunus pelagicus (L.). Fisheries Research 54, 209–216.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Melville-Smith, R. , and Chubb, C. F. (1997). Comparison of dorsal and ventral tag retention in western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus (George). Marine and Freshwater Research 48, 577–580.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Molony, B. W. , Jones, B. , Lawrence, C. S. , and Gouteff, V. A. (2006). Case 3267 Cherax tenuimanus Smith, 1912 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Parastacidae) proposed conservation of usage of specific name. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 63(4), 231–235.
Montgomery, S. S. , and Brett, P. A. (1996). Tagging eastern rock lobsters Jasus verreauxi: effectiveness of several types of tag. Fisheries Research 27, 141–152.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Morrissy, N. M. (1970). Spawning of marron, Cherax tenuimanus (Smith) in Western Australia. Fisheries Research Bulletin Western Australia 10, 1–23.
Morrissy, N. M. (1979). Experimental pond production of marron, Cherax tenuimanus (Smith) (Decapoda: Parastacidae). Aquaculture 16, 319–344.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rowe, S. , and Haedrich, R. L. (2001). Streamer tag loss from American lobsters. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 130, 516–518.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Sharp, W. C. , Lellis, W. A. , Butler, M. J. , Herrnkind, W. F. , Hunt, J. H. , Pardee-Woodring, M. , and Matthews, T. R. (2000). The use of coded microwire tags in mark-recapture studies of juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus. Journal of Crustacean Biology 20(3), 510–521.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Van Montfrans, J. , Capelli, J. , Orth, R. J. , and Ryer, C. H. (1986). Use of micro-wire tags for tagging juvenile blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun). Journal of Crustacean Biology 6, 370–376.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Webb, S. , and Kneib, R. T. (2004). Individual growth rates and movement of juvenile white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus) in a tidal marsh nursery. Fishery Bulletin 102, 376–388.
Wickens, J. F. , Beard, T. W. , and Jones, E. (1986). Micro-tagging cultured lobsters, Homarus gammarus (L.) for stock enhancement. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management 17, 256–265.
Woods, C. M. C. , and James, P. (2003). Evaluation of visible implant fluorescent elastomer (VIE) as a tagging technique for spiny lobsters (Jasus edwardsii). Marine and Freshwater Research 54, 853–858.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
