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Volume 13
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Abstract

Tuna Larvae (Scombridae) off Eastern Australia: When and Where Are They Spawned? †

by
Clare Cao
1,
Anthony G. Miskiewicz
1,2,*,‡,
Sharon A. Appleyard
3,
Paloma Matis
1,4,
Hayden Schilling
1,4 and
Iain Suthers
1,4
1
School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
2
Ichthyology Department, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
3
CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia
4
Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Chowder Bay Road, Mosman, NSW 2088, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
‡
Presenting author (oral communication).
Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2022, 13(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013066
Published: 8 June 2022
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The IX Iberian Congress of Ichthyology)
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Tunas, mackerels, and bonitos (Scombridae) are commercially valuable fishes and contribute to the functioning of pelagic marine ecosystems worldwide, either as large predatory fishes or forage fishes. Despite this, the seasonality of larvae for most scombrids off eastern Australia is unknown. Using monthly plankton samples collected from 2014 to 2020 off Brisbane (27° S) and Sydney (34° S) and scombrid larvae in samples from several historical voyages at various times between 1983 and 2003 that were sampled between Brisbane and Sydney, we describe the spatial and temporal distribution of scombrid larvae occurring off eastern Australia. Based on morphology and mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding, we identified Acanthocybium solandri (wahoo), Allothunnus fallai (slender tuna), Auxis rochei (bullet tuna), Auxis thazard (frigate mackerel), Euthynnus affinis (mackerel tuna), Katsuwonus pelamis (skipjack tuna), Sarda australis (Australian bonito), Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna) and Thunnus tonggol (longtail tuna). Auxis rochei was the most abundant species, with predominately preflexion larvae present from October (mid spring) to February (late summer) off the coast of North Stradbroke Island (27° S). The water temperature significantly influenced the larval distributions of A. rochei (20–24 °C) and E. affinis (24–26 °C), while E. affinis larval abundances were positively associated with eddy kinetic energy. This highlights the importance of western boundary currents and their eddies in facilitating the spawning of scombrids.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, C.C., A.G.M., P.M. and I.S; methodology, C.C., A.G.M., S.A.A., P.M. and I.S; validation, C.C., A.G.M. and S.A.A.; formal analysis, all authors; investigation, C.C., A.G.M., P.M., H.S. and I.S.; resources, S.A.A.; data curation and writing—original, draft preparation, C.C. and A.G.M.; review and editing, all authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and co-funding from the University of New South Wales, Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation and Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). Data was sourced from IMOS–IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Larval fish collections at the IMOS national reference stations were collected under ethics permit UNSW ACEC 19/96B.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Cao, C.; Miskiewicz, A.G.; Appleyard, S.A.; Matis, P.; Schilling, H.; Suthers, I. Tuna Larvae (Scombridae) off Eastern Australia: When and Where Are They Spawned? †. Biol. Life Sci. Forum 2022, 13, 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013066

AMA Style

Cao C, Miskiewicz AG, Appleyard SA, Matis P, Schilling H, Suthers I. Tuna Larvae (Scombridae) off Eastern Australia: When and Where Are They Spawned? †. Biology and Life Sciences Forum. 2022; 13(1):66. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013066

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cao, Clare, Anthony G. Miskiewicz, Sharon A. Appleyard, Paloma Matis, Hayden Schilling, and Iain Suthers. 2022. "Tuna Larvae (Scombridae) off Eastern Australia: When and Where Are They Spawned? †" Biology and Life Sciences Forum 13, no. 1: 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013066

APA Style

Cao, C., Miskiewicz, A. G., Appleyard, S. A., Matis, P., Schilling, H., & Suthers, I. (2022). Tuna Larvae (Scombridae) off Eastern Australia: When and Where Are They Spawned? †. Biology and Life Sciences Forum, 13(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.3390/blsf2022013066

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