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Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79 Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study kelp Durvillaea potatorum occurs on the intertidal fringe and most of the upper intertidal rocks are unvegetated (Plummer et al. 2003). Mobile Invertebrates The upper intertidal is dominated by barnacles Tesseropora rosea, Chthamalus antennatus and mussels Xenostrobus pulex with Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata, red bait crabs Plagusia chabrus, keyhole limpets Fissurellidae and Paguridae hermit crabs are also present in rock pools (Plummer et al. 2003). In deeper pools, the elephant snail Scutus antipodes, abalone Haliotis rubra and Haliotis coccoradiata, seastars Patiriella spp. and swift-footed crab Leptograpsus variegatus are common (Plummer et al. 2003). Fish Intertidal fish communities have not been surveyed at Cape Howe MNP. Little is known about intertidal fish, although sea mullet Mugil cephalus are sometimes caught in rockpools in Cape Howe MNP (Plummer et al. 2003). Subtidal Soft sediment Extensive macroalgal beds occur on sediment and sediment covered reef 10 to 40 m deep in Cape Howe MNP (Holmes et al. 2007b). These beds differentiate into Caulerpa dominated beds in 30 to 40 m (Holmes et al. 2007b). Sponges dominate sediment deeper than 40 m. Orange ball sponges of the genus Tethya dominate sediments in 40 to 60 m depth in the MNP (Holmes et al. 2007b). Depth and sediment type affect the distribution of benthic invertebrates along the Victorian coast. A statewide coastal survey of benthic fauna by Coleman et al. (2007) and Heislers and Parry (2007) included the benthos of Cape Howe MNP. One transect off Cape Howe MNP sampled the soft sediment with two 0.1 m 2 grab samples in 10 and 20 m of water depth. The fine sand contained between 142 to 162 individuals from 16 to 26 families with 68 to 207 species (Heislers and Parry 2007). Representation of major taxa was relatively consistent between depths. Crustaceans were the dominant taxa including amphipods, cumaceans, isopods and ostracods (Heislers and Parry 2007). Polychaetes were also common while molluscs were poorly represented. Seven families were common in both depth classes, including four crustacean families, three amphipods (Phoxocephalidae, Urohaustoriidae and Ampeliscidae), one cumacean (Gynodiastylidae) and three polychaete families (Spionidae, Syllidae and Paraonidae). In waters > 10 m the most common fish over sediments is yellow scad Trachyurus novaezelandiae, juveniles dominate the shallower sediments whereas schools of adults were found in the deeper sediments (Moore et al. 2008). The ocean leatherjacket Nelusetta ayraudi is common over the deeper sediments whilst schools of whiting Sillago species are commonly sighted over more shallow sediment (Moore et al. 2008). Grubfish Parapercis sp. and flathead Platycephalus like ocean leather jackets are associated with deep sediments. The eastern blue-spotted flathead Platycephalus caeruleopunctatus is found throughout the relatively shallower depths of the MNP (
Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 79 Flinders and Twofold Shelf Bioregions Marine Natural Values Study These physical parameters influence key physical processes such as light, water flow and sedimentation, and biological processes such as foraging and recruitment (Connell 2007). Shallow subtidal reefs are often dominated by canopy forming algae. Deep reefs, where light penetration is limited, are often dominated by large sessile invertebrates such as massive sponges (Figure 38), whip corals, soft corals and colonial ascidians. Biotic assemblages can form habitat and food sources for invertebrates and fish. The biota of the Cape Howe MNP comprises both southern and eastern Australian temperate species. Assemblages vary according to the location, depth and exposure (Williams et al. 2007). Flora The inshore reef is dominated by a mixture of crayweed Phyllospora comosa and bull kelp Durvillaea potatorum, the reef further offshore tends to be dominated by P. comosa (Ball and Blake 2007; Williams et al. 2007). The algal understorey (Figure 34) at Cape Howe is dominated by encrusting coralline algae, with only sparse cover of erect fleshy understorey species (Williams et al. 2007). The brown algae Carpomitra costata, Zonaria turneriana and Halopteris spp, red algae Delisea pulchra, Phacelocarpus peperocarpus, Rhodymenia linearis, Galaxaura marginate are the common fleshy understorey species (Williams et al. 2007). Arthrocardia wardii and Haliptilon roseum are the common erect coralline algae. The Phyllospora canopy is particularly dense in places, with little light at the reef surface which is covered by sponges rather than algae (Williams et al. 2007). Deeper waters have macroalgal beds on sand covered reef, including large beds of the green algae Caulerpa in the north-east of the MNP (Holmes et al. 2007b; Figure 36). Invertebrate fauna An important invertebrate of the Cape Howe MNP and the eastern Twofold Shelf bioregion is the long-spined black sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii (Williams et al. 2007; Edmunds et al. 2010b). Centrostephanus forms large grazing aggregations which denude the reef of erect algal species, forming ‘urchin barrens’. Urchin barrens have been observed in Cape Howe MNP (Ball and Blake 2007; Holmes et al. 2007b; Williams et al. 2007; Edmunds et al. 2010b). The occurrence of urchin barren habitat at this location reflects the influence of species from the east coast of Australia on the Twofold Shelf bioregion. Removal of large seaweeds by Centrostephanus causes substantial changes to subtidal reef community structure on reefs in eastern temperate Australia (Williams et al. 2007; Edmunds et al. 2010b). There are high abundances of large herbivorous invertebrates on shallow subtidal reefs in Cape Howe MNP including the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii, blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra, the warrener Turbo undulatus and another turban shell Astralium tentoriformis (Williams et al. 2007). Other common invertebrate grazers are the eastern temperate gastropod Astralium tentoriformis, and purple sea urchin Heliocidaris erythrogramma. Predatory invertebrates include dogwhelks Dicathais orbita, eastern rock lobster Jasus verreauxi, octopus Octopus moarum and a wide variety of seastar species (Williams et al. 2007). Other large reef invertebrates include mobile filter feeding animals such as feather stars Cenolia trichoptera and sessile (attached) species such as sponges, corals, bryozoans, hydroids and ascidians (Williams et al. 2007). Sessile invertebrates such as sponges, asicidians, seawhips and gorgonian corals dominate the reef in 30 to 40 m (Holmes et al. 2007b). Fish Common subtidal reef fish at Cape Howe MNP are herring cale Odax cyanomelas, leatherjacket Meuschenia freycineti, striped mado Atypichthys strigatus, banded morwong Cheilodactylus spectabilis and the damselfishes Parma microlepis and Chromis hypsilepis (Williams et al. 2007). Herring cale is an abundant large species of fish. It feeds on kelp and can be an important structuring agent of algal communities when present in high numbers during breeding aggregations. The other kelp feeding species, rock cale Crinodus lophodon 78
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Page 51 and 52: Figure 15. Location of habitat type
Page 61 and 62: Figure 17. Location map of Point Hi
Page 85 and 86: Figure 30. Location map of Cape How
Page 89 and 90: Figure 33. Biota mapping of Cape Ho
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Page 139 and 140: 4 Appendix 1 Compilation of species
Page 141 and 142: Biotic group Family Species Common
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Biotic group Family Species Common
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Parks Victoria is responsible for m
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