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AB 12:147-155 (2011)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00332

Short-term movement of barramundi in a ­seasonally closed freshwater habitat

M. R. Heupel1,*, D. M. Knip2, P. de Lestang3,4, Q. A. Allsop3, B. S. Grace3,5

1Australian Institute of Marine Science and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
2Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
3Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources, Darwin, Northern Territory 0801, Australia
4Sinclair Knight Merz Consulting, Perth, Western Australia 6001, Australia
5Ecology Results, Blackwood, South Australia 5051, Australia

ABSTRACT: Despite a broad Indo-Pacific distribution, the movement patterns of barramundi Lates calcarifer have gone largely unstudied, particularly in freshwater systems. This study examined the short-term movement and dispersal patterns of 60 barramundi in a seasonally closed freshwater system in 2 seasons (warm and cool). Data indicated that individuals generally moved small distances during up to 18 d of monitoring and that size was not a factor in movement patterns. Individuals moved farther and had larger activity spaces in the cool season than in the warm season, indicating different behaviour between seasons in this freshwater habitat. However, in both seasons, individuals remained in the permanently flooded sections of the billabong with limited movement into seasonally flooded regions. Further examination of long-term presence and movements of freshwater barramundi populations is required, but these data provide insight into short-term movements in a freshwater system.


KEY WORDS: Telemetry · Seasonal · Movement · Freshwater


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Cite this article as: Heupel MR, Knip DM, de Lestang P, Allsop QA, Grace BS (2011) Short-term movement of barramundi in a ­seasonally closed freshwater habitat. Aquat Biol 12:147-155. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00332

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