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Fish movement strategies in an ephemeral river in the S impson D esert, A ustralia
Author(s) -
Kerezsy Adam,
Balcombe Stephen R.,
Tischler Max,
Arthington Angela H.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/aec.12075
Subject(s) - ephemeral key , arid , habitat , ecology , drainage basin , flood myth , flooding (psychology) , fish <actinopterygii> , geography , biology , fishery , psychology , cartography , archaeology , psychotherapist
Arid zone catchments experience extreme hydrological variability and some rivers are entirely ephemeral, replenished only by intermittent flooding. The ecological roles of ephemeral systems are rarely studied. This paper describes movement patterns of fish in the M ulligan R iver, an ephemeral system in the L ake E yre B asin, central A ustralia. Several sites were sampled along a temporal gradient encompassing floods and dry periods. After a single major flood in 2007 up to seven fish species were found at sites up to 300 km from the closest permanent waterhole. Following a series of floods (when waterholes were replenished and remained wet between 2009 and 2011) a further five species were recorded including the first records for the L ake E yre hardyhead, C raterocephalus eyresii , from the rivers of far western Q ueensland. The presence of all species known from the parent catchment (the G eorgina, where permanent waterholes occur) in the ephemeral catchment (the M ulligan) suggests that many fish species present in the river systems of central A ustralia are capable of dispersing long distances following the opening of movement pathways during flooding. However, two distinct groups of species were identified: extreme dispersing species, that move as far as possible into intermittently wetted habitats, and conservative dispersing species, that do not move as far, tending to inhabit deeper waterholes within mid‐reaches of the river that are more likely to hold water for longer. Preservation of the natural flow regime of A ustralia's arid‐zone rivers is important for maintaining these fish communities and facilitating study of their adaptations to ephemerality.