REPORT 2013 – 2014 CONTENTS CENTRERESEARCH SETTING FOR FISH & FISHERIES RESEARCH (CFFR) CENTRE FOR FISH & FISHERIES RESEARCH MURDOCH UNIVERSITY is uniquely situ- 1 From the Director 2 atedThe in Centre Western for Australia’s Fish & capialFisheries city, PERTH, Research at Murdoch University, Perth, FundingCentre members providers and collaborating organisations 85 Westernand is on the Australia, door-step wasof Asia established and the eastern in 2000 in recognition of a history Student completions (2013-2014) 6 edge of the Indian Ocean. MARINE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH GROUP of sustained and internationally recognised excellence in research and 10 MURDOCH is recognised as one of Austral- Teaching 11 ia’s leading research institutions with over Post-graduate Research 11 postgraduate training in fish and fisheries biology. Our main aim is to test Marine Management Research Group 11 two-thirds of our research being recognised Other marine research 12 traditional paradigms regarding fishes and their ecosystems to facilitate Coral Bay Research Station 16 asof atWestern world standard Australia, or better which by independant have highlighted their uniqueness globally and ESTUARINEStumpy the Whale SharkRESEARCH UNIT 2018 assessorstheir sustainability. in the Australian Our Research studies Council have focussed on the faunas and ecosystems Excelence in Research Assessment (ERA) and Overview 21 refinedwas recognosed our understanding as one being in the of top key five aspects per of fish biology and ecosystem How healthy are our estuaries? 21 cent of universities globally in the 2012-2013 The Peel-Harvey Estuary 25 function. Bringing back prawning in the Swan River 27 QS World University’s World Rankings. FRESHWATERA quarter of a century ofFISH Black BreamGROUP research 28 of the Centre having published over 600 papers in leading international The quality of research and postgraduate training is reflected in members 32 The Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research has Overview 33 excellent facilites with ............. Research projects 33 Team Sawfish 41 journals, the receipt of substantial funding from State, National and Sharks and rays in fresh water 43 Feral fish control in Western Australia 45 International sources, and the graduation of almost 100 MPhil and Jawless fishes: 50 years of lamprey research 46 PhD students. Inaugural Western Australian Freshwater Fish Symposium 48 FISHCommunity HEALTH outreach UNIT 51 52 Teaching 53 Research projects 54 Enteric septicaemia of catfish 57 FISH & FISHERIES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE PUBLICATIONS 6258 Disclaimer: The Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research has endeavoured to provide information that is appropriate and accurate for this document and we do not guarantee that all information is accurately portrayed. Murdoch University makes no representations about the suitability of this material for any purpose. CFFR REPORT 2013 – 2014 1 From the Director With the formation of the ‘super’ School of Veterinary & Life Sciences in 2013, which accounts for almost 60% of the University‘s research staff, the Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research has recently undertaken some restructuring. Long-serving Centre Director Professor Neil Loneragan is now the Node Leader of Wildlife Biology and Conservation within the School, and Acting Director Dr Howard Gill sought retirement to spend more time to pursue his love of fishing. I would sincerely like to thank both Neil and Howard for their leadership within the Centre, and wish them well in their new roles or pursuits, and acknowledge that both still remain very committed members of the Centre. The Centre for Fish & Fisheries Research has continued to maintain its extremely productive outputs, with an average of over 40 peer- reviewed journal publications per annum since 2003, including over 125 between 2013 and June 2015. Centre members are to be commended for having also produced almost 20 books and 30 book chapters since 2003, including 7 books and 12 book chapters since 2013. The Centre members currently include 10 Academic Staff, 10 thePost-doctoral contributions Research of our Fellows, Adjunct 38Researchers PhD, MPhil and or MScDistinguished students and 24 Honours students since 2013. I would also like to acknowledge a wealth of experience in our research goals, and in the expert Collaborator and Professional appointments, who provide us with Assupervision the current of Actinggraduate Director, students. it is with great pleasure that I get to work with a professional group of researchers that have the interests of fish and their habitats at heart, for the better of Western Australia. David Morgan Acting Director 2 CFFR REPORT 2013 – 2014 3 Centre Members CENTRE BOARD MSC STUDENTS Cole du Plessis Frazer McGregor AndrewKirsten Ball Broadley Chrostopher Johnson Shaun Collin Sarah Metcalf Stacey Blane BrettGreg JenkinsMolony James Tweedley David MorrisonHampson RESEARCHJoel Williams STAFF Amanda Buckland HONOURSElana Sulin STUDENTS Ian Potter JasonNatasha Crisp Coen Ben Reilly BenAlan French Cottingham Andrew Rowland JeffMark Whitty Allen Tom Bateman James Keleher Amber Bennett DISTINGUISHED Sarah Fretzer AndrewLeah Botton Broadley DIRECTORIan Stagles (Acting) COLLABORATORS Michelle Gardner PearceEllen Boylen Buchanan David Morgan Vanessa Jaiteh Michael Klunzinger Harriet Davies DEPUTY DIRECTOR Richard Warwick JoMelanie Marie KoinariAcebes Jake Chandler (Acting) Michael Elliott AbbyLe Ma Mitchell Michael Landry Cameron Desfosses ADJUNCTKen Pollock RESEARCHERS Jon Murphy PeterJames Howie Florisson ACADEMICFiona Valesini STAFF Mikayla Morine Keyley Hogan-West Jennie Chaplin Bob Clarke Brad Norman Shona Jennings Lynnath Beckley Jeffrey Dambacher Marianne Nyegaard Amy Kirke DavidNic Dunlop Fairclough BrianOwen PohO’Shea JacquiJames LaoladaMorgan Mike van Keulen Brendan Ebner RebeccaKaren Paton Roberts Elizabeth Lavall Halina Kobryn Susan Gibson-Kueh AlexHoward Hesp Gill Brenton Pember Neil Loneragan Norm Hall Sam Robinson Natasha Prokop IanAlan Potter Lymbery Tom Ryan Gary Ogston Susan Moore MargaretSteeg Hoeksema Platell MichaelAlicia Sutton Travers MaxDelia Wellington Quek Gavin Partridge Gayani Thiakarathna Stephanie Venables POST-DOCTORALMalcolm Tull Daniel Yeoh RESEARCH FELLOWS MattKen Pollock Taylor Lauren Veale Lisa West Jeremy Prince MPHIL STUDENTS Joseph Christensen PHD STUDENTS PeterStephen Coulson Beatty Jeff Whitty Erin Kelly Mark Allen Adrian Gleiss Simon Allen Adrian Hordyk Eloise Ashworth 4 CFFR REPORT 2013 – 2014 5 Student completions (2013-2014) Doctor of Philosophy Honours O’Shea, Owen (2013). The ecology and biology of King, Brandon (2014) Diversity and abundance stingrays (Dasyatidae) at Ningaloo Reef, Western of Nudibranchia under the Busselton Jetty with Acebes, Jo Marie (2014). Historical catches of large Australia. (Supervisors: Mark Meekan, Mike van Antipas, Kaija (2013). Diversity, growth rates and influence of water temperature. (Supervisor: Mike marine vertebrates in the Bohol Sea: interactions of Keulen & Michelle Thums) population size structure of a faviid dominated van Keulen) communities with their marine environment, socio- ‘marginal’ coral reef in Fremantle, Western Australia. Lethrinus laticaudis economic changes and conservation management Roberts, Rebecca (2013). Economic strategies for (Supervisor: Mike van Keulen & Damian Thompson, Pember, Brenton (2014). Connectivity in the grass implications in the Philippines. (Supervisors: coastal disaster risk reduction: A case study of CSIRO) emperor, . (Supervisor: Jennie Malcolm Tull & James Warren) Pagrus auratus Exmouth, Western Australia. (Supervisors: Lynnath Chaplin) Psuedocaranx georgianus Beckley & Malcolm Tull) Arnold, Justine (2014) Nudibranchs of the Central Parartemia French, Ben (2013). The Diets of Western Australian Coast. (Supervisor: Mike van Quek, Delia (2013). Development of genetic (Sparidae),web and the and biology of Othos dentex Veale,estuaries Lauren and (2014).the biology Inter-period of Pelates comparisons octolineatus Keulen) markers for (Crustacea: Anostraca) and (Carangidae), the construction of a demersal food of the ichthyofaunas of two nearby, modified preliminary results of genetic analysis. (Supervisor: (Seranidae). Ball, Kirsten (2014). The ecophysiological effects of Jennie Chaplin). (Supervisors: Margaret Platell & Ian Potter) (Terapontidae). (Supervisors: Ian Potter, Alex Hesp, ocean acidification on the seagrass Posidonia australis Manta alfredi of anthropogenic activities on two aquatic Norm Hall & Peter Coulson) and their calcifying epiphytes. A study using pulse Venables, Stephanie (2013). Short-term behavioural Fretzer, Sarah (2013). Analysing the effects Masters of Philosophy amplitude modulated fluorometry. (Supervisors: Mike responses of manta rays, , to tourism van Keulen & Navid Moheimani) interactions in Coral Bay, Western Australia. ecosystems in. Western Australia and identifying (Supervisors: Mike van Keulen, Lesley Brain & sustainable policies for ecosystem-based Bennett,Metapenaeus Amber dalli (2014). The influence of sediment Frazer McGregor) management (Supervisors: Neil Loneragan, Norm Whitty, Jeff (2013). Utility of a multi-faceted compositions on the Western School Prawn Hall & Jeff Dambacher) approach in determining the habitat use of in a temperate Australian estuary. West,Rhincodon Lisa (2013). typus Diurnal variation in zooplankton endangered euryhaline elasmobranchs in a remote (Supervisors: James Tweedley & Neil Loneragan) communities and its relationship to whale shark Hordyk, Adrian (2014). The development and region