Logo image
Life cycle characteristics of the Blue Morwong Nemadactylus valenciennesi, compared with those of other species of Cheilodactylidae
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Life cycle characteristics of the Blue Morwong Nemadactylus valenciennesi, compared with those of other species of Cheilodactylidae

P.G. Coulson, S.A. Hesp, I.C. Potter and N.G. Hall
Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol.61(1), pp.104-118
2010
pdf
Blue_Morwong.pdfDownloadView
Author’s Version Open Access
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

The demonstration by this study that the life cycle characteristics of the reef fish Nemadactylus valenciennesi differed markedly from those of other cheilodactylids led us to compare these differences and hypothesise on their evolutionary implications. The distribution, length and age compositions, growth and the length and age at maturity of N. valenciennesi in south-western Australian waters have been determined. The maximum age (21 years) of N. valenciennesi (maximum total length = 984 mm) is far less than those of the much smaller Cheilodactylus fuscus, Nemadactylus macropterus (both ∼40 years) and Cheilodactylus spectabilis (97 years). Yet N. valenciennesi, N. macropterus and C. spectabilis mature at a similar young age (3-7 years). While, on the basis of data for other species, all three species mature at lengths consistent with their asymptotic lengths, the last two species mature at a far earlier age than would be predicted from their long life spans. The early attainment of maturity by N. macropterus and C. spectabilis may reflect a response to high juvenile mortality or constrained adult growth, whereas their long life spans could reflect a response to variable recruitment in the past or compensation for limited annual reproductive output due to very constrained adult growth.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

457 File views/ downloads
132 Record Views

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.2 Marine Biology
3.2.92 Fisheries Ecology
Web Of Science research areas
Fisheries
Limnology
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Oceanography
ESI research areas
Plant & Animal Science
Logo image