Victorian Subtidal Reef Monitoring Program - Parks Victoria

Parks Victoria Technical Series No. 28PPB Sanctuaries Subtidal Reef Monitoring3.3 InvertebratesWithin the north of the bay, the invertebrate assemblages were different between thenorthwest (Point Cooke), northern (Jawbone) and northeastern (Ricketts Point) regions of theBay (Figure 3.4). The main differences between these regions were largely because ofvariations in the abundance of blacklip abalone Haliotis rubra, common sea urchinHeliocidaris erythrogramma and seastars Patiriella calcar and P. brevispina.Although slight differences in invertebrate assemblage structure was apparent betweenyears, the relative differences between regions and sites was maintained (Figure 3.4).The species richness of the invertebrate assemblages were similar between sites andregions in northern Port Phillip Bay, although a higher species richness was observed atPoint Cooke during the first survey (Figure 3.5). The diversity at most sites was relatively lowbecause of a dominance of only two species: Heliocidaris erythrogramma and Haliotis rubra(Figure 3.6). The invertebrate species diversity was slightly higher at Point Cooke andJawbone.S1S2S4S3S6S5Figure 3.4. MDS plot of invertebrate assemblage structure in northern Port Phillip Bay. Sites arelabelled next to the point representing the first survey at each site. Stress = 0.09.17