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  • 1
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Marine biology 78 (1983), S. 75-85 
    ISSN: 1432-1793
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Various aspects of the biology of the blue manna crab Portunus pelagicus have been investigated in the large Peel-Harvey estuarine system of Western Australia, using samples collected regularly by beach seine, gill net and otter trawl between February 1980 and July 1981. Whereas crabs were widely dispersed throughout Peel Inlet, Harvey Estuary and the saline regions of tributary rivers during the summer and autumn, they were found mainly near the estuary mouth in the winter and spring. Since our data suggest that P. pelagicus has a preference for salinities of 30 to 40‰, the above changes in distribution are apparently related to the marked seasonal variation in salinity which results from the very seasonal pattern of rainfall. The number of ovigerous crabs in the estuary were greatest in January and February. The mean carapace width and number of eggs of ovigerous females were 110 mm (range 85 to 157 mm) and 509 433 (range 270 183 to 847 980), respectively. P. pelagicus started to reach the minimum legal size for capture (carapace width 127 mm) in the summer when they were approximately I yr old, and left the system in large numbers in the following winter when they were 15 to 20 mo old. These features explain why the fishery for P. pelagicus is highly seasonal, with the vast majority of crabs being taken between January and May. As crabs approached the end of their first year of life, the ratio of females began to exceed that of males, apparently as a result of the movement of males out of the system and legislation against the capture of ovigerous females.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    ISSN: 1432-1793
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract The biology of a population of the cardinalfish Apogon rueppellii has been studied over several years (1977–1983) in the Swan Estuary in south-western Australia, using ramples collected monthly from the shallows by beach seine and from various depths by otter trawl. While the life cycle of this species typically lasts for one year, at the end of which time the mean length is 50 to 60 mm, some individuals survive for a further year and attain lengths up to 104 mm. A. rueppellii shows a marked tendency to move offshore into deeper water during the winter months. This tendency is more pronounced in the 1+ than in the 0+ year class and in larger than smaller 0+ individuals. An inshore movement of A. rueppellii in the spring is followed by spawning and by oral brooding by the males, which leads to the recruitment of large numbers of a new 0+ year class on to the banks during the summer. The offshore movement is correlated with changes in salinity and temperature. The larger catches taken by otter trawl during the day than at night indicate that A. rueppellii exhibits a diel pattern of activity. Mean fecundity ranged from 70 in the 45 to 49 mm size class to 345 in the 90 to 94 mm size class. Measurements of fecundity and the number of oral-brooded eggs demonstrated that the majority of the eggs released by the female are collected and incubated by the males. Copepods are ingested in relatively greater amounts by small than by large A. rueppellii, whereas the reverse situation occurs with larger crustaceans, polychaetes and small fish. The presence of greater amounts of copepods in the diet during the day and of amphipods at night probably reflects the diel activity patterns of the prey.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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