Marine Natural Values Study Summary - Parks Victoria

Within the park, Cleft Island in theAnser Group is listed as having Stategeological significance.Just outside the park the numeroussheets of granite at Norman Pointare also listed while the sea cavesof Great Glennie Island are ofregional significance.Wilsons Promontory is an importantbiogeographic barrier for biologicalcommunities.Marine Habitat Distributionand Ecological CommunitiesThe main habitats protected by thepark include intertidal and subtidalsoft sediment, intertidal and subtidalreefs, and the water column.The intertidal boulders in the park arehome to marine plants such as lichens(e.g. Lichina confinis, Gasparinniamurorum), various brown algae(e.g. Splachnidium rugosum), and theglobular cyanobacteria Rivularia firma.Near the low water mark encrustingcalcareous red algae, and mediumsized brown algae Cystophora spp.can be common. Further down theshore the large brown algae Durvillaeapotatorum is dominant.Also dominant in the surge zoneexposed only by low spring tides areThe Red Velvetfish Gnathanacanthus goetzeei.Photo by Mark Norman, Museum Victoria.the brown algae Ecklonia radiata andPhyllospora comosa, along withcoralline red algae.Aggregating invertebrates found inthe rocky intertidal zone include themussel Austromytilus rostratus; thebarnacles Chthamalus antennatus,Chamaesipho columna, Catomeruspolymerus and Austromegabalanusnigrescens; and the ascidian Pyurastolonifera.Mobile invertebrates found on theintertidal rocks include the periwinklesAustrolittorina unifasciata andAfrolittorina praetermissa. In amongstthe mussels and barnacles are thelimpets Cellana solida, C. tramoserica,Notoacmea alta, N. mayi, N. petteridi,Patelloida victoriana, and P. latistrigata.The predatory gastropods Dicathaisorbita and Lepsiella vinosa are alsocommon and feed on the mussels andbarnacles. Near the low-water markthe gastropods Dicathais orbita andTurbo undulatus, chitons of the genusPlaxiphora spp. and the limpet Patellaperoni are common.The subtidal soft sediments arepredominantly inhabited by infauna(small crustaceans and wormsthat burrow into the sand) andbottom-dwelling skates and rays.Drift algae and algae attachedto shells and debris are alsocommon on soft sediments.Seagrass beds of Halophila australisand Heterozostera nigricaulis arerestricted to sheltered waters, inparticular Waterloo and Oberon Bays.A variety of fish have been recordedon seagrass and associated sandsubstrate including the southerngoatfish Upeneichthys vlamingii,silverbelly Parequula melbournensis,wide-bodied pipefish Stigmatoporanigra, spotted pipefish S. argus,slender weed whiting Siphonognathusattenuatus, blue-throated wrasseNotolabrus tetricus, gobiesNesogobius spp., weedfishHeteroclinus spp. and Cristiceps spp.and toothbrush leatherjacketsAcanthaluteres vittiger.The demersal fish fauna of subtidalsoft sediment environments are typicalof much of the shallower parts of BassStrait and include the sparsely spottedstingaree Urolophus paucimaculatus,Tasmanian numbfish Narcinetasmaniensis, banded stingareeUrolophus cruciatus, angel sharkSquatina australis, shortnose sawsharkPristiophorus nudipinnis, sand flatheadPlatycephalus bassensis, silver trevallyPseudocaranx dentex, and pricklytoadfish Contusus brevicaudus.Benthic invertebrates found withinthe sediments are made up mostlyof crustaceans including amphipods,cumaceans, isopods and ostracods65