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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Distribution of the Pearl Oyster Pinctada maxima off Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.8, pp.1-13
09/09/2021
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Abstract
The silver-lipped pearl oyster, Pinctada maxima, is the primary species used for the culture of pearls in the Indo-Pacific region. The Western Australian fishery relies on wild-caught animals, and as such, knowledge of the status and distribution of P. maxima underpins sustainable management of the fishery. Eighty Mile Beach, in tropical Western Australia, is the key harvest area for P. maxima, with oysters collected by divers to depths of ∼35 m, although there are anecdotal accounts of oysters beyond diving depths. Image-based, and acoustic methods were used to elucidate distribution patterns of P. maxima off Eighty Mile Beach, including data from 862 km2 of multibeam survey and 119 towed video transects spanning an area from the 20 to 100 m contour lines. We quantified habitat characters including depth, substrate, and benthic community composition associated with pearl oyster distribution. Multibeam sonar data was also coupled with towed video data to produce predictive statistical models of P. maxima habitat. We found P. maxima to depths of 76 m, although more than 90% of individuals occurred shallower than 40 m and less than 2% were found deeper than 50 m. Oysters occupied flat, sandy habitats with neighbouring benthic communities of filter feeders (>98% of observations). These results show P. maxima predominantly occurs in depths <40 m, with no evidence that extensive populations extend into deep water in the region.
Details
- Title
- Distribution of the Pearl Oyster Pinctada maxima off Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia
- Creators
- Steve Whalan - Australian Institute of Marine ScienceMarji Puotinen - Australian Institute of Marine ScienceMary Wakeford - Australian Institute of Marine ScienceIain Parnum - Curtin UniversityKaren Miller - Australian Institute of Marine Science
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol.8, pp.1-13
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Grant note
- This study was funded by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Santos Ltd. This research forms part of the North West Shoals to Shore Research Program which is supported by Santos as part of the company’s commitment to better understand Western Australia’s marine environment.
- Identifiers
- 991012968466902368
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2021 Whalan, Puotinen, Wakeford, Parnum and Miller. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms
- Academic Unit
- School of Environment, Science and Engineering; Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article