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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: kelly.james@anu.edu.au.
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Abstract

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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 

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