Continuous recruitment underpins fish persistence in the arid rivers of far-western Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Fish living in highly variable and unpredictable environments need to possess life-history strategies that enable them to survive environmental extremes such as floods and drought. We used the length–frequency distributions of multiple fish species in multiple seasons and highly variable hydrological conditions to infer antecedent breeding behaviour in rivers of far-western Queensland, Australia. Hypotheses tested were as follows: (1) recruitment of some or all species of fish would occur within waterholes during no-flow periods; (2) there would be seasonal recruitment responses in some fish species; (3) recruitment of some species would be enhanced by channel flows and/or flooding. Hydrology and the incidence of flooding were highly variable across the study area during 2006–2008. Flood-influenced recruitment was evident for Hyrtl's tandan, Barcoo grunter and Welch's grunter. Silver tandan, golden goby, Cooper Creek catfish and Australian smelt showed evidence of seasonal recruitment unrelated to antecedent hydrology. However, most species demonstrated continual recruitment in isolated waterholes, irrespective of antecedent flow conditions and season. Continual and seasonal recruitment capabilities have obvious advantages over flood-pulse recruitment in rivers with highly unpredictable flood regimes and underpin the persistence of many fish species in arid and semiarid rivers.