parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
parks victoria technical series marine natural values study vol 2 ...
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Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79<br />
Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study<br />
wrasse Ophthalmolepis lineolata. The eastern blue grouper Achoerodus viridis is present in<br />
low numbers in Point Hicks MNP.<br />
In Cape Howe MNP shallow subtidal rocky reefs have a complex structure, including eroded<br />
low-profile sandstone reef and high-profile granite reef. The canopy is dominated by<br />
crayweed P. comosa, with some bull kelp Durvillaea potatorum in shallower waters.<br />
Invertebrate diversity is high and common invertebrates include the warrener Turbo<br />
undulatus and turban shell Astralium tentoriformis. Its fish assemblage is distinct in the<br />
bioregion. Common fish are herring cale O. cyanomelas, the six-spined leatherjacket<br />
Meuschenia freycineti, striped mado Atypichthys strigatus, and banded morwong C.<br />
spectabilis. The eastern blue grouper Achoerodus viridis is present in low numbers in Cape<br />
Howe MNP.<br />
The shallow subtidal reef in the Beware Reef has seaweed, invertebrate and fish<br />
communities that are distinctly different to the other reefs in Twofold Shelf MPAs. The<br />
canopy is dominated by bull kelp D. potatorum and crayweed P. comosa, with a lesser<br />
contribution by the common kelp E. radiata. Invertebrate assemblages have large numbers<br />
of the feather star Cenolia trichoptera and high densities of the black sea urchin<br />
Centrostephanus rodgersii and blacklip abalone H. rubra. Common fish at Beware Reef MS<br />
are blue throated wrasse N. tetricus and purple wrasse N. fucicola. Other fish species<br />
include the Maori wrasse O. lineolata, and toothbrush leather jacket Acanthaluteres vittiger.<br />
Large aggregations of butterfly perch Caesioperca lepidoptera are also a feature of the reef.<br />
Subtidal soft sediment is a dominant habitat in all of the five MPAs in the Flinders and<br />
Twofold Shelf bioregions but detailed knowledge of its flora and fauna is restricted to shallow<br />
waters. Point Hicks and Cape Howe are the exception where the entire MPAs have been<br />
mapped and substrate and biota modelled. Sediments are predominantly inhabited by<br />
infauna (small crustaceans and worms that burrow into the sand) and bottom-dwelling<br />
skates and rays. The fish fauna of subtidal soft sediment at Wilsons Promontory MNP are<br />
typical of much of the shallower parts of Bass Strait. Common benthic fish are the sparsely<br />
spotted stingaree Urolophus paucimaculatus, Tasmanian numbfish Narcine tasmaniensis,<br />
banded stingaree U. cruciatus, angel shark Squatina australis and shortnose sawshark<br />
Pristiophorus nudipinnis. Boney fishes include sand flathead Platycephalus bassensis, silver<br />
trevally Pseudocaranx dentex, prickly toadfish Contusus brevicaudus and several species of<br />
leatherjackets.<br />
The majority of Ninety Mile Beach MNP is < 20 m deep, with extensive intertidal and subtidal<br />
quartzose sand. Specific information on distribution and diversity of biota in the MNP is<br />
scarce. A large endemic southern Australian seastar Coscinasterias muricata is abundant<br />
along this coast, as well as an unusual soft coral Pseudogorgia godeffroyi. Aggregations of<br />
juvenile white shark Carcharodon carcharias, snapper Pagrus auratus, Australian salmon<br />
Arripis sp. and long-finned pike D. lewini and short-finned pike Sphyraena novaehollandiae<br />
occur in Ninety Mile Beach MNP.<br />
The dominant subtidal sediment in Point Hicks MNP and Cape Howe is sand, or in deeper<br />
waters (> 50 m) coarse gravel made up of shells or shell fragments. Orange ball sponges<br />
Tethya are common amongst the shell dominated substrate. Nearly half of the mapped<br />
sediment in Point Hicks had no identifiable biota living on it. The rest has sessile<br />
invertebrates predominately sponges in depths > 30 m. Sparse green algae Caulerpa is<br />
found amongst the invertebrates in 50 to 70 m. In Cape Howe MNP Caulerpa occurs in<br />
shallower depths (30 to 40 m). Inshore of the Caulerpa in Cape Hower are sparse<br />
macroalgal beds on sediment and sediment covered reef, while in deeper waters there are<br />
sessile invertebrates, predominately sponges. Common fish over sediment and sediment<br />
covered reef in the MNP are yellow scad Trachyurus novaezelandiae, ocean leatherjacket<br />
Nelusetta ayraudi, whiting Sillago, grubfish Parapercis sp., eastern blue-spotted flathead<br />
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