reproductive biology and population dynamics of a bowfin (amia calva) population in southeastern louisiana

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1、Reproductivebiologyandpopulationdynamicsofabowfin(Amiacalva)populationinsoutheasternLouisianaAMasterofScienceThesisProposalJohnathanDavisDepartmentofBiologicalSciencesNichollsStateUniversity15December200515SummaryBowfinAmiacalvaareatop-levelpredatorintheswampsandbayousofLouisiana.Becauseofthepopula

2、rityoftheirmeatandroeasfoodandtheirlocalrecreationalappeal,bowfinareavaluablecommoditywithinsouthLouisiana.Anunderstandingoftheirreproductivebiology,mostnotablyeggsize,number,andtimeofdevelopment,isnotonlyimportantcommerciallyforindividualswhoselltheroe,butalsofortherefinementofpopulationmodelsfort

3、hemanagementofthespecies.Inthisstudy,ageandgrowthdataaswellasthereproductivedatawillbequantifiedforapopulationofbowfinfromsoutheasternLouisiana.FisheswillbecollectedwithgillnetsfromtheBayouChevreuil-GrandBayousystemnearChackbay,Louisiana,usinggillnetsandfromvariouslocationsacrosssoutheastLouisianaw

4、iththeassistanceofcommercialfisherman.Totallength,weight,eggsizeandnumber,sex,andgonadweightwillbecollectedforeachfish.Thisinformationwillbeusedtoimproveexistingpopulationmodelsandtodevelopanindividual-basedharvestmodelforbowfinusingdatafrompopulationswithinsoutheastLouisiana.Estimatingreproductive

5、potentialanddescribingthepopulationcharacteristicsofbowfincanpotentiallyinsureprotectionofthestocksofbowfinandaidinprovidingasustainableandprosperousbowfinfisheryfortheusersinLouisiana.IntroductionBowfinbelongtooneoftheoldestgroupsoffishesandarethelastextantspeciesofAmiidae.Thelineagehasbeentracedb

6、acktotheMesozoicera(PattersonandLongbottom1989).BowfinareimportanttoLouisianaasacommercialspeciesforboththeirmeatandtheirroe.ThepopulationdynamicsofbowfininsoutheasternLouisianais15poorlyunderstood,andinformationoncurrentstocksislimitedalso.Foundintheswampsandbackwatersthroughouttheregion,bowfinmay

7、becomestressedfromchangesintheirhabitat.Theseswampsandbackwatersarenolongersubjectedtoyearlyfloodpulsesthatcontributetotheproductivityofthesystem.Althoughthebowfinadaptswelltothesehypoxichabitats,reductions