Artificial Habitats for Fisheries Enhancement in the Australian Region

This paper outlines developments over about 20 years in the construction of and ecological research on artificial reefs, fish aggregation devices (FAD's), and other artificial habitats designed to enhance fish populations and fisheries in the Australian region (including New Zealand and Papua New Guinea). Work was initially carried out on multicomponent reefs using a variety of waste materials, as well as some specially constructed concrete and steel structures. Later studies concentrated on single-component reefs, again mainly using waste materials. Although no definitive conclusions were reached on the relative effectiveness of the different materials used, waste motor vehicle tires and derelict ships were generally judged to be the best all-around materials for single-component reef construction in sheltered estuarine and offshore marine environments, respectively, in this region. FAD's comprising polyvinylchloride pipe sparbuoys (or in some areas polyurethane foam floats) attached to railroad car wheel anchors by polyethylene rope and chain, and supporting attractor drapes of synthetic mesh webbing, also provedtobegenerallysuccessfulin thisarea. Overall conclusions for the Australian region include the predominant use of waste materials in artificial reef construction, which has been primarily aimed at recreational fisheries enhancement; the successful use of FAD's for both recreational and commercial fisheries enhancement; the need for further and better planned research into and monitoring of the effectiveness of both of these enhancement methods; and the need for future research into the effectiveness of unfished "artificial habitat reserves" in enhancing fisheries production from surrounding fished areas.

Deux nouvelles espèces Indo-Pacifiques de Stomatopodes

In the Indo-pacific region, a study on Stomatopodes revealed two new species: Squilla carinata and Gonodactilus tweediei. Here the author gives a brief description.

Pesca de atum no indico: seu desenvolvimento recente e consequências para os Países da Subregião Sul Ocidental

In this study the author provided a synthesis of the most relevant aspects of fisheries in Mozambique and Indo-Pacific Region, discussed at the “Seminario sobre avaliaçāo de mananciais de atum na regiāo indo-pacifiqa-jacarta” held in Jakarta from 20 to 22 August 1984. Tens of documents belonging to the Department of Documentation and Information of the Fisheries Research Institute of Maputo and containing valuable information on the tuna fishing in Indo-Pacífic Region were studied in preparation of this seminar.

A new distributional record of Zozymodes cavipes (Dana, 1852) (Crustacea; Decapoda) from the coastal waters of Pakistan

One male and one female of Zozymodes cavipes (Dana, 1852) have revently been collected from the rocky shores near Karachi; the species is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific region. It is, however, being reported for the first time from the pakistani coast of the northern Arabian Sea and thus fills the gap in the known distribution of the species. The pakistani material is housed in the Marine Reference Collection Centre, University of Karachi. The specimens are briefly descibed below. Only restricted synonym is given.

A Review of the parasitic copepods of fish recorded from Ceylon with description of additional forms

The beginning of our knowledge of the copepods parasitic on fish from Ceylon is due to Bassett-Smith (1898 a) who, in a paper on "Further New Parasitic Copepods found on Fish in the Indo-Tropical Region", included seven species collected at Trincomalee and Colombo. Later in the same year, in a paper on "Some New or Rare Parasitic Copepods from the Indo-Tropical Region", he (Bassett-Smith, 1898 b) included three more species from Ceylon. Soon after, more of these parasites were obtained from Ceylon during Herdmann's investigation of the Pearl Banks. From this collection, one lot consisting of eleven species was described by Thompson and Scott (1903) and a second lot consisting of seven species was described by Wilson (1906). At that stage the number of species recorded from Ceylon made up to a total of twenty-eight and there the matter rested for another quarter of a century until, quite by chance, while collecting marine animals on a reef, Mr Kirtisinghe came across a newly dead half-beak with a learned parasite projecting from its body. Since then, in a number of occasional papers (Kirtisinghe, 1932-35, 1937, 1950, 1956, 1960) he has described thirty-eight more species of parasitic copepods from Ceylon. However, his collection included many more species which were put aside for later attention. In the present paper, while dealing with those forms in his collection which he has not recorded or described earlier, he has put together all the known forms of parasitic copepods of fish from Ceylon. A list of the host fishes with their respective parasitic copepods is also provided, types of new species, at present in the author's private collection, will be deposited in the Fisheries Department, Colombo, Ceylon.

Growth of the buccaneer anchovy Encrasicholina punctifer off Mozambique, based on samples collected in research surveys

Growth of Encrasicholina punctifer (Engraulididae) is estimated, based on samples obtained during five surveys on Sofala Bank (central Mozambique). The estimated values of the von Bertalanffy growth function, TL∞=12 cm and K=2.0 yearˉ¹ are compared with results of growth studies elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, based mainly on the index Φ=log(sub)10 K+2*log(sub)10L∞ assumed to be constant within species. This comparison is rendered difficult by the uncertain taxonomical status of stolephorid anchovies.

Processing aspects of Indian mackerel: a review

Indian mackerel belongs to the family Scombridae and the genus Rastrelliger. The Indian mackerel, Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier), is a pelagic shoaling fish widely distributed in the Indo Pacific region with maximum abundance in Indian coasts. Another species, R. brachysoma (Bleeker), also is reported from the Andamans in Indian waters. However, the former is the species that supports the fishery in India (Nair, 1970).

Aquaculture of the mangrove red snapper

Mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) is an important marketable species throughout the Indo-Pacific region. It is a euryhaline species; it can tolerate freshwater, brackishwater and marine water. Modular culture is the common system in snapper production in the Philippines. Stocking density is 4,000 fry per cropping; there could be 2 croppings per year. Brief details are given of investment costs and returns for culture in brackishwater pens.

A compiled key to the recent Stomatopoda of the Indo-West Pacific region

A taxonomic key is presented of the Stomatopoda (family Gonodactylidae) of the IndoWest Pacific Region.

A compiled key to the recent Stomatopoda of the Indo-West Pacific region

An identification key is given for the Stomatopod family Lysiosquillidae occurring in the Indo-West Pacific region.

Habitat availability and heterogeneity and the Indo-Pacific warm pool as predictors of marine species richness in the tropical Indo-Pacific

Range overlap patterns were observed in a dataset of 10,446 expert-derived marine species distribution maps, including 8,295 coastal fishes, 1,212 invertebrates (crustaceans and molluscs), 820 reef-building corals, 50 seagrasses and 69 mangroves. Distributions of tropical Indo-Pacific shore fishes revealed a concentration of species richness in the northern apex and central region of the Coral Triangle epicenter of marine biodiversity. This pattern was supported by distributions of invertebrates and habitat-forming primary producers. Habitat availability, heterogeneity and sea surface temperatures were highly correlated with species richness across spatial grains ranging from 23,000 to 5,100,000 km2 with and without correction for autocorrelation. The consistent retention of habitat variables in our predictive models supports the area of refuge hypothesis which posits reduced extinction rates in the Coral Triangle. This does not preclude support for a center of origin hypothesis that suggests increased speciation in the region may contribute to species richness. In addition, consistent retention of sea surface temperatures in models suggests that available kinetic energy may also be an important factor in shaping patterns of marine species richness. Kinetic energy may hasten rates of both extinction and speciation. The position of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool to the east of the Coral Triangle in central Oceania and a pattern of increasing species richness from this region into the central and northern parts of the Coral Triangle suggests peripheral speciation with enhanced survival in the cooler parts of the Coral Triangle that also have highly concentrated available habitat. These results indicate that conservation of habitat availability and heterogeneity is important to reduce extinction and that changes in sea surface temperatures may influence the evolutionary potential of the region.