Life history plasticity affects the population structure and distribution of the widespread migratory fish Galaxias brevipinnis
Andy S. Hicks
A B E , Matt G. Jarvis A , Ryan R. Easton A , Jonathan M. Waters A , Bruno O. David C , Marc D. Norman D and Gerard P. Closs A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Zoology Department, University of Otago, 340 Great King Street, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
B Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, 159 Dalton Street, Napier, 4142, New Zealand.
C Waikato Regional Council, 401 Grey Street Hamilton East, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand.
D Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, 142 Mills Road, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: andy@hbrc.govt.nz
Marine and Freshwater Research 72(4) 542-550 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF20099
Submitted: 4 April 2020 Accepted: 6 September 2020 Published: 20 October 2020
Abstract
Partial migration, or variation in migratory propensity within populations, has been reported across a range of taxa, including fish. Otolith microchemistry has revealed a high degree of life history plasticity in many amphidromous species, with diadromous and non-diadromous recruitment occurring. We examined this plasticity and its effect on population structure, dispersal and recruitment in Galaxias brevipinnis, an amphidromous fish widespread around New Zealand. We used otolith microchemistry analyses to examine recruitment sources and fish surveys to assess abundance and size structure in two large river systems, each containing naturally formed lakes and no obvious physical barriers to migration. Otolith analyses revealed discrete recruitment sources for stream-resident populations, with marine recruitment supporting populations downstream from lakes and exclusively lake-derived recruitment for populations upstream of lakes. Although diadromous G. brevipinnis were abundant within 10 km of the sea, the abundance and relative proportion of younger fish declined as distance upstream increased, until a lake was reached, at which point abundance and the proportion of small individuals increased. The results provide a strong indication that supply is limiting recruitment for G. brevipinnis as distance from pelagic larval habitat increases, and that discrete recruitment sources and population structuring exist even within drainages.
Keywords: amphidromy, ecological space, kōaro, supply limited recruitment, whitebait.
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