ASFB Home > The effects of spatial and temporal factors on the abundance of seven key finfish species along south-western Australia.

Unexpected Movements by Adult Macquarie Perch in Cotter Dam

Brendan Ebner, Mark Lintermans and Mark Jekabsons

Environment ACT, LYNEHAM, AUSTRALIA

THEME: ASFB

A spawning migration was not detected by radiotracking ten adult Macquarie perch, Macquaria australasica Cuvier, in Cotter Dam over spring and early summer 2001. This contrasts with observations of spawning migrations in populations found elsewhere in the Murray-Darling Basin. In this study most individuals demonstrated a high degree of site fidelity during daytime. However, nocturnal movements on the scale of hundreds of metres to kilometres were recorded during diel tracking exercises. These phenomena have implications for 1) conceptual models of habitat use in this endangered species, 2) the temporal sampling resolution of future research and 3) effects of accumulated sleep deprivation in two person field crews.