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Factors influencing the abundance of the common bully, Gobiomorphus cotidianus McDowall, in small, North Island, New Zealand, lakes
Author(s) -
Rowe D. K.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2400.1999.00162.x
Subject(s) - littoral zone , abundance (ecology) , limnetic zone , fishery , trophic level , benthic zone , plankton , predation , rainbow trout , ecology , zooplankton , biology , turbidity , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii>
Adult common bullies, Gobiomorphus cotidianus McDowall, are small (total length = 30–120 mm), benthic fish commonly found in the littoral zones of New Zealand lakes where they are a major prey species for trout and eels. Differences in their relative abundance (CPUE) were determined between 21 shallow North Island lakes. Mean CPUE ranged from 2 to > 1000 fish net − 1 night − 1 and was inversely related to water transparency. The abundance of bullies was not reduced in lakes containing rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), but was reduced in all lakes containing self‐recruiting populations of eels, Anguilla spp. Mean densities of planktonic larval bullies in the limnetic zone were also inversely related to water transparency. Since low water transparency is related to increased trophic status for these lakes, the abundance of bullies is likely to be related to lake productivity, rather than turbidity.