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Getting to know tripletail PDF Print E-mail
Written by Kyle Carter   
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Little is known about the habits of the tripletail. A CCA Texas study at UTMSI hopes to change that. Photo by David J. Sams.
Little is known about the habits of the tripletail. A CCA Texas study at UTMSI hopes to change that. Photo by David J. Sams.
‘It’s interesting that there’s a fish like that that we know so little about ...’

Maybe it’s because they look mean and different. They don’t mirror the typical sport fish, covered with random splotches of black and silver.

Whether it’s looks or luck or lack of time and resources, little is known about the recently popular and supposedly tasty Lobotes surinamensis, or tripletail.

“It’s interesting that there’s a fish like that that we know so little about, but they are not unusual,” said Joan Holt, director for mariculture at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. “There’s been some work done on the populations in the Gulf, but not a whole lot.”

In order to remedy this problem, the Coastal Conservation Association of Texas recently pledged $20,000 to Holt and Bill Balboa from Texas Parks and Wildlife to conduct a two-part study to determine the feasibility of spawning tripletail in captivity. “Dr. Holt and her team at UTMSI are world-renown for their critical work on Texas fisheries,” said Luke Giles, director of communications for CCA Texas. “The science gathered in this study will be a step in the right direction for conserving this important species for future Texans to enjoy.”

The work for this team started last summer when Holt’s team caught eight tripletail out of Matagorda and took them back to their fisheries in Port Aransas.

“We have some small ones that I think are too young, but we have some larger fish that are 25 to 26 inches,” Holt said. “We think we have males and females, but that’s always a problem as well. It’s hard to tell until they actually start spawning.”

Holt said they are currently simulating the seasons with the tripletail in the tanks, controlling the temperature and the amount of daylight the fish see. In some species, such as red drum or cobia, the simulated seasons can be expedited for a faster spawn (every six to nine months), but because of a lack of research with the tripletail, they are just following the natural seasons.

The tripletail in captivity are living in waters temperatures reflecting those present on the Gulf. As temperatures warm outside, the water temperature in the tank will be raised. Holt said they will try and add to their population once winter ends, but the group has its eye on late May and early June when they hope the tripletail will start to spawn.

“We just have to be patient and see if they will spawn,” Holt said. “If they don’t, we will take them out of the tanks and use a catheter to find out if they have any eggs or sperm.

“We want to see where they are and what they are doing, and we may have to inject them with something to try and get them to spawn.”

And being patient could be easier said than done. Holt said it took them 10 years to successfully spawn Cobia because they kept getting batches of all male or female fish.

“We don’t know whether the tripletail will spawn or not because we’ve never done this with them and neither has anybody else,” Holt said. “There’s a big learning curve. I’m hoping that what we’ve learned from the other species, we can apply to the new species, but that’s just a hope.”

Holt says the money shouldn’t run out any time soon. The UTMSI is as interested in learning about the tripletail as CCA Texas, so they are putting their own financial resources into the project. It’s important to be able to study the larvae so they can get a better idea of what the tripletail can handle, which gives them a better chance of enhancing the population in the wild. “We can see how the larvae develop and see how long they are in certain stages,” she said. “Once we get them to spawn and have the larvae, we will be able to do a lot of work with them.”
Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 March 2008 )
 
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