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Daily ageing to delineate population dynamics of the invasive fish Gambusia holbrooki: implications for management and control

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Abstract

Despite the high global invasion profile of Gambusia holbrooki, there is limited knowledge of its population dynamics, especially biological parameters for fine-scale delineation of recruitment events that can provide a basis for controlling this short-lived invasive species. Key to this is daily ageing of otoliths, and in this study 193 (~ 50%) of 394 wild fish sampled from an invaded wetland were successfully aged. Increment counts of growth rings in otoliths from aquaria-reared G. holbrooki did not correspond 1:1 to their known ages but were significantly correlated (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.92), suggesting the use of linear relationships could nevertheless be used to estimate the age of wild-caught fish. Mean daily growth rate estimated for spring-summer cohorts (0.28 mm/day) was much greater than that of winter cohorts (0.12 mm/day). A natural mortality rate of 0.01 day− 1 for females was estimated by catch-curve analysis via length to age conversion based on the growth relationship. Birth rate closely correlated with changes in water temperature with a peak reproduction in January (Austral summer) at the study site. This study, for the first time, used daily age estimates of G. holbrooki to quantitatively examine population dynamics, which can be used to investigate invasive dynamics and choice of pest control strategies, including their scheduling and assessment.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project (LP 140100428) and Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania. HN received a scholarship from the Australian Awards Scholarship program. Dr. Peter Cui (IMAS) provided valuable comments on the study. Special thanks to John Duggin and volunteers at TIWR for their dedication to obtaining temperature and capture data. Melanie Leef and Jon Schrepfer provided technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries and Aquaculture Centre, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

    Hoang Nguyen, Justin D. Bell & Jawahar G. Patil

  2. Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia

    Jawahar G. Patil

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  1. Hoang Nguyen
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  2. Justin D. Bell
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  3. Jawahar G. Patil
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Correspondence to Jawahar G. Patil.

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Nguyen, H., Bell, J.D. & Patil, J.G. Daily ageing to delineate population dynamics of the invasive fish Gambusia holbrooki: implications for management and control. Biol Invasions 23, 2261–2270 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02504-9

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