This study examined the larval biology and ecology of the southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) based on approximately 3000 archived plankton and mid-water trawl samples held, principally, by CSIRO, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, and the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Victoria. Additional samples were provided by the National Institute of Water and Atmosphere, New Zealand; some samples were opportunistically collected during the project to fill in areas where there was a lack of archived samples. The combined sample set covered the major geographic range of the fishery in Australia (132E/32S - 155E/46S). Details of larval growth, duration and distribution were combined with concurrently collected hydrographic data and satellite based observations to examine possible larval transport mechanisms, connectivity between management zones and physical factors that may influence the supply of larvae on a regional basis. The dataset is primarily in Excel format with a summary of the results presented in a final report to FRDC (project number 96/107).
The primary basis for the project was the analysis of existing plankton and larval fish samples and the collation of data sets on larval distribution that had been derived from sampling across broad areas of southern and eastern Australia over the last 17 years. Some of these samples had been archived in the CSIRO Ian Munro Fish Collection, Australian Museum or South Australian Museum as part of the FRDC funded regional larval fish archive (FRDC94/55). Other samples or data sets were resident within the collections of collaborating institutions. The project focused its analyses on southern and southeast Australia spanning the area from the Great Australian Bight (GAB) to northern NSW. This region was selected for four reasons: First, sampling had been most intensive in this region and available data sets provided excellent spatial and seasonal coverage. Second, our ability to identify larvae to species was well developed in the region. Third, the oceanography of the region had been the subject of intensive study and provided a sound basis for linking biological data to physical processes. Fourth, additional sampling during the period of this project was scheduled that further enhanced sample coverage (specifically sampling by MAFRI in Bass Strait Bass Strait and sampling by CSIRO in the GAB). The Larval Fish Database (LFD) has been created in Microsoft Access. It has been divided into two parts: a data module that houses raw data and an application module that automatically displays summaries of these data in a user-friendly fashion. By dividing the database into two parts, the user only has access to the specified data summaries, the raw data remain secure and the LFD can be updated as further data become available. The LFD incorporates an ActiveX component (MapInfo MapX) that allows the user to visualise spatial data and animations of modelled larval dispersal that are displayed using Microsoft's Media Player. The LFD has been designed to allow expa