Species | Rhombosolea tapirina |
Common Name | Greenback Flounder |
Importance | Minor |
Habitat | Sheltered sand, silt and mud substrates in estuaries and coastal waters |
Depth | 0 – 100 m (Edgar, 2008) |
Distribution | Southern Western Australia to southern New South Wales, around Tasmania, also New Zealand (Edgar, 2008) |
Diet | Polychaetes and benthic crustaceans (Edgar, 2008; Ferguson, 2006) |
Stock Structure | Several genetically distinct stocks in Australia: west coast Tasmania, east coast Tasmania, Victoria (van den Enden et al., 2000) |
M (Natural Mortality) | 0.85 (for populations in New Zealand) (Sutton et al., 2010) |
Maximum Age (years) | 10 (Sutton et al., 2010) |
Maximum Length (total length; cm) | 45 (Edgar, 2008; Kailola et al., 1993) |
Maximum Weight (g) | 600 (Edgar, 2008; Kailola et al., 1993) |
Female K (von Bertalanffy growth parameter) | 0.26 |
Male K (von Bertalanffy growth parameter) | 0.24 |
Female t0 (age (years) when length = 0) | -1.06 |
Male t0 (age (years) when length = 0) | -1.32 |
Female L∞ (asymptotic von Bertalanffy length (total length; cm)) | 55.82 |
Male L∞ (asymptotic von Bertalanffy length (total length; cm)) | 52.21 |
Length (L; tail length (cm))– Weight (W; g) Relationship | W=0.036 L^2.7 (females), W=0.039 L^2.64 (males) (Sutton et al., 2010) |
Size at Maturity (total length; cm) | 21.86 (females), 19.0 (males) (Crawford, 1984) |
Spawning Season | June – October |
Spawning Location | Females are serial spawners and move from shallows to deeper areas of esturaries, and offshore for spawning (Crawford, 1984) |
Additional Spawning Information | Pelagic eggs |
Batch Fecundity (F; number of eggs) to Fork Length (FL; cm) | F=-1053.65+85.85L (Crawford, 1984) |
Egg Size | 0.7 – 1.0 mm diameter (Crawford, 1984) |
Recruitment | No-stock recruitment relationship established |
Early Life History | Incubation 82 – 93 hours; larvae hatch 1.9mm from May – November; larvae planktonic for >30 days until 6mm, then undergo metamorphosis which finishes 65 days post-hatching; settlement inshore occurs late winter – early summer; juveniles live on sand flats in water < 1 m deep (Crawford, 1984) |
Gillnet Post Release Survival | High: 96.1% (Lyle et al., 2014) |