­Redescription and distributional range extension of the Speckled Siphonfish, Siphamia guttulata (Pisces: Apogonidae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4766 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-388
Author(s):  
JOHN J. POGONOSKI ◽  
OFER GON ◽  
SHARON A. APPLEYARD

During seabed biodiversity surveys between 2003 and 2005 from the Torres Strait (Papua New Guinea) to the southern Great Barrier Reef (Queensland), hundreds of Siphamia specimens were collected. After Gon & Allen’s (2012) revision allowed greater interrogation of the Siphamia species present, a re-examination of preserved and frozen Siphamia specimens at the CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection (ANFC) was warranted. The material was re-identified as four commonly collected species (S. cuneiceps, S. roseigaster, S. tubifer, and S. tubulata) and a fifth unidentified species that appeared to key to S. guttulata, previously known only from the type locality. Further detailed investigations including an analysis of meristic, morphometric and COI barcoding data confirmed the identity of S. guttulata from almost the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, from the Torres Strait in the north to the Northumberland Islands Group in the south. This study provides a redescription of Siphamia guttulata and highlights the importance of re-assessing the taxonomic status of museum material after revisionary studies. 

1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
J. H. S. Osborn

The north-east coast of Australia is fronted by the world's longest coral reef system, which stretches in a north/south direction between latitudes 9° and 24° South. Although its outer limit is at distances of between 20 and 120 miles from the coast the enclosed waters are relatively shallow and contain many islands, detached reefs and shoals. The shipping lane between the coast and the Great Barrier Reef is known as the Inner Route. Torres Strait, its northern entrance, although extensive is shallow throughout and encumbered by reefs and islands to such an extent that only one route through it has been lit. The alternative routes are shallow or tortuous.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 43-109
Author(s):  
Ariana B.J. Lambrides ◽  
Ian J. McNiven ◽  
Samantha J. Aird ◽  
Kelsey A. Lowe ◽  
Patrick Moss ◽  
...  

Archaeological records documenting the timing and use of northern Great Barrier Reef offshore islands by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout the Holocene are limited when compared to the central and southern extents of the region. Excavations on Lizard Island, located 33 km from Cape Flattery on the mainland, provide high resolution evidence for periodic, yet sustained offshore island use over the past 4000 years, with focused exploitation of diverse marine resources and manufacture of quartz artefacts. An increase in island use occurs from around 2250 years ago, at a time when a hiatus or reduction in offshore island occupation has been documented for other Great Barrier Reef islands, but concurrent with demographic expansion across Torres Strait to the north. Archaeological evidence from Lizard Island provides a previously undocumented occupation pattern associated with Great Barrier Reef late Holocene island use. We suggest this trajectory of Lizard Island occupation was underwritten by its place within the Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere, which may highlight its significance both locally and regionally across this vast seascape.


1956 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Endean ◽  
W Stephenson ◽  
R Kenny

The species composition and general ecology of intertidal organisms present at Heron Island, a coral cay in the Capricorn Group, are recorded in this paper. It was found that the general zonation picture on this Great Barrier Reef island differed markedly from that found previously at localities on the Queensland mainland (Endean, Kenny, and Stephenson 1956). In particular the mainland upper barnacle (Chthamalus) zone was not represented at Heron I., and the species forming the mainland lower barnacle zone (Tetraclita squamosa (Bruguiere) ) was replaced by a different species (Tetraclita vitiata Darwin). Also the characteristic algal zone of mainland localities was replaced by a lithothamnion-zoanthid-coral zone. In order to investigate the possibility of a gradual transition from the mainland type zonation to that found on the Great Barrier Reef, as exemplified by Heron I. zonation, the species composition and general ecology of intertidal organisms inhabiting a series of continental islands lying off the Queensland coast between lat. 16� and 22� S. were investigated. The fauna of these islands was found to be closely allied to that of the mainland. There was, however, an intrusion of corals and zoanthids on the more exposed of the islands visited which lie between lat. 20� and 22�S., and also on the more northerly of the islands visited. The biogeographical implications of these findings are discussed, and it is noted that the results of the present investigation support the contention of Whitley (1932) that a longitudinal division of the Queensland marine fauna into "Solanderian" and "Banksian" elements is warranted. Accounts are also given of the major environmental factors that might affect specific composition and zonation patterns at the localities investigated. Analyses of these have given much information on the general ecology and distribution of many Queensland intertidal species. Thls information is discussed. Of particular interest was the finding that the Peronian barnacle Tetraclita rosea (Krauss) has extended its range,to the north of the biogeographical boundary situated near lat. 25� S. by colonizing the more exposed of the continental islands.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
B Ruddick

Currents and sea levels were measured at a number of locations in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon from about 10 to 13� S., during the period October-December 1979. A strong non-tidal, low-frequency modulation of all sea-level and current data was found. The currents nearshore were driven northward by the wind, and then at least partially blocked by the dense network of reefs to the north of 10� s. The water then flowed southward in deeper water adjacent to the reef, driven by a longshore pressure gradient. The low- frequency sea-level data, though not the current records, showed northward phase propagation at speeds characteristic of a first-mode shelf wave trapped in the lagoon between the shore and the reef. Data are presented revealing the intrusion of low-salinity water, through Bligh Entrance, in the GBR lagoon, as a result of river discharges in the Gulf of Papua. It is suggested that low-frequency longshore currents may periodically flush these river plumes from the GBR lagoon and enhance interaction between reefs. In the Coral Sea in front of reef passages, the large horizontal velocities may result in forces upwelling by selective withdrawal and jet entrainment.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Wolanski ◽  
M Jones ◽  
WT Williams

The distribution of salinity, temperature, suspended particles, light transmissivity, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments across the Great Barrier Reef lagoon offshore Townsville, was measured from 9 January 1979 to 23 January 1980 at approximately weekly intervals. Previous observations at Low Isles. 400 km to the north, on seasonal variations of temperature and salinity were generally applicable here. A shallow summer thermocline was frequently observed in offshore waters, in the dry season and in calm weather. As a result of evaporation from the lagoon and adjoining mangrove swamps during the dry season, an inverse estuarine circulation can exist when high salinity, sediment-rich, nearshore waters sink below the less saline offshore waters. Only nearshore were bottom sediments strongly entrained in the water column during strong winds, principally in winter.


Coral Reefs ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Messmer ◽  
Lynne van Herwerden ◽  
Philip L. Munday ◽  
Geoffrey P. Jones

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 ◽  
pp. 120-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jody M. Webster ◽  
Nicholas P.J. George ◽  
Robin J. Beaman ◽  
Jon Hill ◽  
Ángel Puga-Bernabéu ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 555 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Moran ◽  
G De'ath ◽  
VJ Baker ◽  
DK Bass ◽  
CA Christie ◽  
...  

Two series of outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci (L.), have been recorded on the Great Barrier Reef since the early 1960s. Data from scientific surveys and reliable unpublished observations were analysed statistically to quantify the pattern of movement of these outbreaks. Data on outbreak populations were obtained from 84 and 97 reefs for the periods 1966-74 and 1979-91, respectively. Outbreaks during the former period were found to occur further south with time, their rate of movement increasing from 49 km year-1 in 1966 to almost 81 km year-1 by 1974. Two sets of outbreaks were identified during the 1979-91 period, one occurring to the north, and the other to the south, of latitude 16�s. The 'southern drift' in outbreaks was found to be the more dominant of the two, 'travelling faster' for a greater period. Its initial rate of movement was estimated at 77 km year-1 compared with 57 km year -1 for the 'northern drift'. The latter travelled 150 km before it stopped in 1984. In contrast, the 'southern drift' had travelled a distance of 560 km by 1991, although it had also become almost stationary by then. Outbreaks that moved south during 1979-91 followed a path similar to those that occurred in the 1966-74 period. This similarity in the outbreak paths was particularly evident during the first 6 years of each period. In all, 35 reefs were recorded as experiencing both outbreaks, the average time between each being 14.68 years. The origin of the northern and southern patterns in the 1979-91 period was found to coincide, suggesting that the likely epicentre for primary outbreaks is close to latitude 16�s.


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