Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T01:06:40.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing the Potential for Radiocarbon Dating the Scales of Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus Forsteri)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Kelly M James ,
Stewart J Fallon ,
Andrew McDougall ,
Tom Espinoza  and
Craig Broadfoot
Kelly M James*
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia
Stewart J Fallon
Affiliation:
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT, Australia
Andrew McDougall
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Resource Management, Bundaberg QLD, Australia PO Box 1544, Broome, WA 6725, Australia
Tom Espinoza
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Resource Management, Bundaberg QLD, Australia
Craig Broadfoot
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Bundaberg QLD Australia
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We present a novel application for radiocarbon dating by aging 4 scales from a single large adult lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) from the Burnett River, in Queensland, Australia. The relict fish species lack a solid crystalline otolith, which precludes the use of the otolith annuli as a reliable age indicator. Previous attempts to age lungfish using a number of techniques have had only limited success. We report on ages obtained from the dense lamellar bone of the scale, which were isolated from the organic layers that thicken and subsequently obscure the 14C signal. Using the characteristics of the bomb curve, 2 parameter von Bertanalffy growth functions were fit, providing an estimate of absolute age to be ∼65–70 yr. The information gleaned from this study will aid in assessing the population structure, and therefore management, of this vulnerable species.

Type
Freshwater and Groundwater
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 3: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 1084 - 1089
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Brinkmann, H, Denk, A, Zitzler, J, Joss, JJ, Meyer, A. 2004. Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of the South American and the Australian lungfish: testing of the phylogenetic performance of mitochondrial data sets for phylogenetic problems in tetrapod relationships. Journal of Molecular Evolution 59(6):834–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, SG, Kind, PK. 2002. Ecology and demography of the Queensland lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) in the Burnett River, Queensland with reference to the impacts of Walla Weir and future water infrastructure development. Queensland Department of Primary Industries. Queensland: Queensland Agency for Food and Fibre Services.Google Scholar
Campana, SE. 2001. Accuracy, precision and quality control in age determination, including a review of the use and abuse of age validation methods. Journal of Fish Biology 59(2):197–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danancher, D, Labonne, J, Gaudin, P, Joly, P. 2007. Scale measurements as a conservation tool in endangered Zingel asper (Linnaeus 1758). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 17(7):712–23.Google Scholar
Davis-Foust, SL, Bruch, RM, Campana, SE, Olynyk, RP, Janssen, J. 2009. Age validation of freshwater drum using bomb radiocarbon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 138:385–96.Google Scholar
Gauldie, RW, Dunlop, D, Tse, J. 1986. The remarkable lungfish otolith. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 20:81–92.Google Scholar
Hua, Q, Barbetti, M, Jacobsen, GE, Zoppi, U, Lawson, EM. 2000. Bomb radiocarbon in annual tree rings from Thailand and Tasmania. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 172(1–4):359–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Illidge, T. 1894. Report to the Royal Society of Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 10:41–4.Google Scholar
Kemp, A. 1986. The biology of the Australian lungfish, Necteratodus forsteri (Krefft, 1870). Journal of Morphology Supplement 1:181–98.Google Scholar
Marshall, C, Schultze, HP. 1992. Relative importance of molecular, neontological, and paleontological data in understanding the biology of the vertabrate invasion of land. Journal of Molecular Evolution 35(2):93–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPhie, RP, Campana, SE. 2009. Bomb dating and age determination of skates (family Rajidae) off the eastern coast of Canada. ICES Journal of Marine Science 66(3):546–60.Google Scholar
Meyer, A. 1995. Molecular evidence on the origin of tetrapods and the relationships of the coelacanth. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10(3):111–16.Google Scholar
O'Connor, D. 1897. Report on preservation of Ceratodus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 12:101–2.Google Scholar
Sire, J-Y, Donoghue, PCJ, Vickaryous, MK. 2009. Origin and evolution of the integumentary skeleton in nontetrapod vertebrates. Journal of Anatomy 214(4):409–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von Bertalanffy, L. 1938. A quantitative theory of organic growth (Inquiries on growth laws II). Human Biology 10:181–213.Google Scholar
Wager, RNE. 1993. The Distribution and Conservation Status of Queensland Freshwater Fishes. Queensland Department of Primary Industries Information Series No Q193001.Google Scholar