Investigating food limitations in wild fisheries: Estuarine fish form dynamic aggregations around a supplementary feeding station and increase localised secondary productivity.

Whether wild fish populations are food limited in some inshore and estuarine marine ecosystems is an area of increasing research and focus. To investigate this phenomenon, the abundance and behaviours of fish in a temperate South Pacific estuary were observed in response to the provision of supplementary feed. Observations were conducted over 120-weeks, involving a 60-week period over which fish were actively fed followed by a 60 week without feeding.

Investigating food limitations in wild fisheries: the attendance and growth responses of fish at an anthropogenic feeding station within a temperate estuary.

To investigate whether wild fish populations are food limited, this study explored whether the provision of supplementary food had a positive effect on the abundance, condition and growth characteristics of estuarine fish assemblages in New Zealand. Feed (7690 kg) was delivered from an anthropogenic feeding station over a 60-week period to a naturally occurring assemblage of wild fish. Yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri) of juvenile, sub-adult and newly matured size classes were the dominant species actively foraging at the feeding station throughout its operation, whereas larger piscivorous species visited and foraged from the feed station over the summer period only.

Morphology and hydro-sensory role of superficial neuromasts in schooling behaviour of yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri).

The lateral line system is a mechanosensory organ found in all fish species and located on the skin or in subdermal canals. The basic functional units are superficial and canal neuromasts, which are involved in hydrodynamic sensing and cohesion in schooling fish. Yellow-eyed mullet (Aldrichetta forsteri) are an obligate schooling species found commonly in shallow coastal areas of New Zealand and Australia.

Temperature effects on metabolic rate and cardiorespiratory physiology of the spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) during rest, emersion and recovery.

Although spiny rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) is a wholly sub-littoral species, they show a considerable ability to survive prolonged emersion, a fact exploited during the commercial export of this species. Yet, despite this remarkable hardiness, basic information on how this species responds physiologically to emersion is somewhat lacking. Using flow-through respirometry and electrophysiological techniques, we identified that J.

Hypoxia impairs visual acuity in snapper (Pagrus auratus).

We investigated the effect of environmental hypoxia on vision in snapper (Pagrus auratus). Juvenile snapper inhabit estuarine environments where oxygen conditions fluctuate on a seasonal basis. Optomotor experiments demonstrated that visual acuity is impaired by environmental hypoxia, but not until levels approach the critical oxygen tension (P crit) of this species (around 25% air-saturated seawater).

Cardiovascular changes and catecholamine release following anaesthesia in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and snapper (Pagrus auratus).

We investigated recovery from anaesthesia in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) with and without surgery. Fish either underwent light sedation on exposure to 60 ppm AQUI-S or surgical depth anaesthesia with 120 ppm AQUI-S. Surgical depth anaesthesia experiments were replicated using New Zealand snapper (Pagrus auratus).

A novel method for the reduction of numbers of Listeria monocytogenes cells by freezing in combination with an essential oil in bacteriological media.

The use of multiple freeze (-20 degrees C)-thaw cycles in combination with isoeugenol and polysorbate 80 was investigated as a method for the reduction of numbers of Listeria monocytogenes cells in a bacteriological medium. Three freeze (1 h, -20 degrees C)-thaw cycles in the presence of isoeugenol at concentrations of 0, 100, and 300 ppm resulted in average L. monocytogenes reductions of 0.