Predicting biological variation using a simple morphometric marker in the sedentary marine invertebrate Haliotis rubra
Files
Date
2008
Authors
Saunders, Thor Mayo
Mayfield, Stephen
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 2008; 366:75-89
Statement of Responsibility
T. Saunders and S. Mayfield
Conference Name
Abstract
Many sedentary marine invertebrates have a fine-scale (100s m) population structure
that complicates their conservation and management. This is a consequence of the limited information
on the boundaries between component populations and the biological variability among them.
Blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra form discrete populations, many of which are ‘stunted’ with individuals
reaching a maximum length less than those in adjacent areas. In the present study, we obtained
information on the growth, size at maturity and fecundity of H. rubra from stunted and ‘non-stunted’
populations spread across broad (10s km) and fine (100s m) spatial scales. Relationships between
each of these key population parameters and a simple ‘morphometric marker’ based on the relationship
between shell length and shell height were also examined. Variation in broad-scale growth and
size at maturity could primarily be attributed to differences between stunted and non-stunted sites.
Within the stunted site, growth and size at maturity were substantially different over distances
>150 m. However, within the non-stunted site these parameters tended to be similar across 1000 m.
While the lowest fecundities tended to be in the stunted sites, there was significant overlap among all
sites. These spatial patterns in biology were highly correlated with the spatial variability observed in
a simple morphometric marker. These results suggest that this morphometric marker can be used as
a tool for the spatial management of abalone fisheries by cheaply inferring key biological parameters
for individual populations and identifing the boundaries among these based on these differences.
School/Discipline
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Copyright © Inter-Research 2008