Movements and migrations of yellowfin bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Günther), in Moreton Bay, Queensland as determined by tag recoveries

Abstract

Yellowfin bream were tagged and released in three non-spawning areas and two spawning areas in Moreton Bay, a large estuarine system on the east coast of Australia. A total of 194 fish were recaptured. Juvenile fish made only small-scale movements (less than 6 km) from the release site. Small-scale movements were also recorded for adult fish, although largescale movements from 10 to 90 km were also recorded. The large-scale movements appear to be associated with the migration of adult fish to or from surf bar spawning areas. Some adult fish remained in feeding areas during the spawning season (May-August). There was no indication from tag recoveries of any movements of yellowfin bream outside Moreton Bay and the results indicate that adult yellowfin bream in Moreton Bay may be regarded as a unit stock for the purpose of fisheries management.

Movements of Marine Fish and Decapod Crustaceans: Process, Theory and Application

“…Figure 2 Estimates of space use in time for the life phases of an individual Acanthopagrus australis (Sparidae) from Moreton Bay, south-east Queensland, Australia. Scale domains have been estimated using information from tagging studies (Pollock, 1982;Pollock et al, 1983). The x-axis displays the temporal scope (maximum relative to minimum duration of a life phase and movement pattern).…”

“…Robertson (1988) has argued that relocation between patches by highly mobile animals is a common phenomena and a major source of the variability reported in studies of fish associated with coral reefs. Furthermore, tagging studies of adults of exploited species have revealed that some animals will move several hundred kilometres, for example, from one bay or estuary to another (Pollock, 1982). The reasons for these types of relocation are usually not known and little information is available on the frequency of such broad-scale inter-population movements.…”

Relations between migration, reproduction and nutrition in yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis

“…the junction of estuary and ocean). The spent O Inter-Research/Printed in F. R. Germany adults return to estuarine areas after the spawning period (Pollock, 1982a). The planktonic larval stages of yellowfin bream are abundant at surf bars after the spawning period .…”

“…by Harden Jones (1968); various estuarine fishes in southern Africa by Wallace (1975); and barramundi Lates calcarifer by Moore and Reynolds (1982). In yellowfin bream, approximately half of the adult population does not participate in the annual spawning migration (Pollock, 1982a), even though there are no physical barriers which prevent these fish from migrating. The nonmigratory adults remain in the estuarine feeding areas during the spawning period.…”

“…freshwater eels) which spend most of their lives in freshwater and migrate to the sea to spawn. Many estuarine fishes in the Indo-Pacific region undergo an annual migration in which adults move to the sea to spawn (Day et al, 1981); one such species is the yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis (Giinther) (Pollock, 1982a). Juvenile and adult yellowfin bream inhabit estuarine areas (Blaber and Blaber, 1980).…”