Meager, J.J.; Loneragan, N.R.; Vance, D.J. and Williamson, I. (1999). Processes affecting the distribution and abundance of juvenile banana prawns (Penaeus merguiensis). Proceedings of the Australian Society for Fish Biology, Conference, Bendigo Victoria. October 1-3, 1999.

Benthic postlarval and juvenile banana prawns (Penaeus merguiensis) were sampled with a small beam trawl in a mangrove creek of the Logan River, southeast Queensland. Sampling was completed every fortnight over 18 months. Potential fish predators of prawns were also sampled at the time of high prawn catches, using fyke and stake nets. The main environmental factors influencing the catches of juvenile prawns were rainfall and temperature, with the highest captures during the months with low rainfall and high temperatures. A total of 11 fish species were collected within the mangrove forest, but only two species had juvenile banana prawns in their stomachs. An additional species was found with postlarval sized crustaceans (natantids) in the stomach. The low numbers of predators within the mangrove forest may be due to the structural complexity impeding access of predators and/ or reducing predation success. Current research for my Ph.D. is investigating this hypothesis.

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