New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

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Spatial and temporal distribution of landlocked Galaxias maculatus and Galaxias platei (Pisces: Galaxiidae) in a lake in the South American Andes

Juan P. Barriga^1,2
Miguel A. Battini¹
Patricio J. Macchi¹
Daniela Milano^1,2
Víctor E. Cussac^1,2,*

¹Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche
Universidad Nacional del Comahue
Calle Quintral 1250, Bariloche
8400 Río Negro, Argentina
email: vcussac@yahoo.com
²Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
Argentina
^*Author for correspondence.

Abstract  Galaxiids are present in many of the Andean lakes in southern South America. We studied landlocked Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns) and Galaxias platei Steindachner populations in a deep oligotrophic lake (Lake Gutiérrez, Patagonia, Argentina). Their temporal and spatial distribution, intra-lacustrine movements (horizontal and vertical), and spawning periods were analysed using several sampling techniques (ichthyoplankton net, seine net, gill net, and baited benthic traps). We identified the early life stages of both species based on their morphology and otolith shape. The free embryos of both species migrate to the limnetic zone, where they coexist as larvae, facing the same food availability and probably the same predation risk. Each species then moves on to its own juvenile and adult habitat: the littoral and benthic zone for G. maculatus and only the deeper benthic zone for G. platei. Their adult habitats and part of their spawning periods partly overlap.

Keywords  Galaxias maculatus; Galaxias platei; habitat shifts; landlocked fish; whitebait; vertical distribution; spawning period; morphology

M01060 Received 11 July 2001; accepted 19 November 2001
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2002, Vol. 36: 345–359
0028–8330/02/3602–0345 $7.00 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2002

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (582K)

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