Aj. Courtney et al., TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL PATTERNS IN RECRUITMENT OF 3 PENAEID PRAWNS IN MORETON-BAY, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, Estuarine, coastal and shelf science, 41(4), 1995, pp. 377-392
The size at recruitment, temporal and spatial distribution, and abioti
c factors influencing abundance of three commercially important specie
s of penaeid prawns in the sublittoral trawl grounds of Moreton Bay (Q
ueensland, Australia) were compared. Metapenaeus bennettae and Penaeus
plebejus recruit to the trawl grounds at sizes which are relatively s
mall (14-15 mm carapace length, CL) and below that at which prawns are
selected for, and retained, in the fleet's cod-ends. In contrast, Pen
aeus esculentus recruit at the relatively large size of 27 mm CL from
February to May, well above the size ranges selected for. Recruitment
of M. bennettae extends over several months, September-October and Feb
ruary-March, and was thus likely to be bi-annual, while the recruitmen
t period of P. plebejus was distinct, peaking in October-November each
year. Size classes of M. bennettae were the most spatially stratified
of the three species. Catch rates of recruits were negatively correla
ted with depth for all three species, and were also negatively correla
ted with salinity for M. bennettae. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited