Larval development of estuary perch (Macquaria colonorum) and Australian bass (M. novemaculeata) (Perciformes: Percichthyidae), and comments on their life history
Morphological development of the larvae and small juvenilesof estuary perch (Macquaria colonorum) (17 specimens, 4.8−13.5 mm body length) and Australian bass (M. novemaculeata) (38 specimens, 3.3−14.1 mm) (Family Percichthyidae) is described from channel-net and beach-seine collections of both species, and from reared larvae of M. novemaculeata. The larvae of both are characterizedby having 24−25 myomeres, a large triangular gut (54−67% of BL) in postflexion larvae, small spines on the preopercle and interopercle, a smooth supraocular ridge, a small to moderate gap between the anus and the origin of the anal fin, and distinctive pigment patterns. The two species can be distinguished most easily by the different distributionof their melanophores. The adults spawn in estuaries and larvae are presumed to remain in estuaries before migrating to adult freshwater habitat. However, larvae of bothspecies were collected as they entered a central New South Wales estuary from the ocean on flood tides; such transport may have consequences for the dispersal of larvae among estuaries. Larval morphology and published genetic evidence supports a reconsideration of the generic arrangement ofthe four species currently placed in the genus Macquaria.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2005
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| Subjects: | Biology, Ecology, Fisheries, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/26259 |
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