Natural outbreak of Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS) infection in wild giant Queensland grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus (Bloch), and other wild fish in northern Queensland, Australia

Ninety-three giant Queensland grouper, Epinephelus lanceolatus (Bloch), were found dead in Queensland, Australia, from 2007 to 2011. Most dead fish occurred in northern Queensland, with a peak of mortalities in Cairns in June 2008. In 2009, sick wild fish including giant sea catfish, Arius thalassinus (Ruppell), and javelin grunter, Pomadasys kaakan (Cuvier), also occurred in Cairns. In 2009 and 2010, two disease epizootics involving wild stingrays occurred at Sea World marine aquarium. Necropsy, histopathology, bacteriology and PCR determined that the cause of deaths of 12 giant Queensland grouper, three wild fish, six estuary rays, Dasyatis fluviorum (Ogilby), one mangrove whipray, Himantura granulata (Macleay), and one eastern shovelnose ray, Aptychotrema rostrata (Shaw), was Streptococcus agalactiae septicaemia. Biochemical testing of 34 S.agalactiae isolates from giant Queensland grouper, wild fish and stingrays showed all had identical biochemical profiles. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of isolates confirmed all isolates were S.agalactiae; genotyping of selected S.agalactiae isolates showed the isolates from giant Queensland grouper were serotype Ib, whereas isolates from wild fish and stingrays closely resembled serotype II. This is the first report of S.agalactiae from wild giant Queensland grouper and other wild tropical fish and stingray species in Queensland, Australia.

Crinkles in connectivity: combining genetics and other types of biological data to estimate movement and interbreeding between populations

Marine species generally have large population sizes, continuous distributions and high dispersal capacity. Despite this, they are often subdivided into separate populations, which are the basic units of fisheries management. For example, populations of some fisheries species across the deep water of the Timor Trench are genetically different, inferring minimal movement and interbreeding. When connectivity is higher than the Timor Trench example, but not so high that the populations become one, connectivity between populations is crinkled. Crinkled connectivity occurs when migration is above the threshold required to link populations genetically, but below the threshold for demographic links. In future, genetic estimates of connectivity over crinkled links could be uniquely combined with other data, such as estimates of population size and tagging and tracking data, to quantify demographic connectedness between these types of populations. Elasmobranch species may be ideal targets for this research because connectivity between populations is more likely to be crinkled than for finfish species. Fisheries stock-assessment models could be strengthened with estimates of connectivity to improve the strategic and sustainable harvesting of biological resources.

"Description of blue tongue and other arboviruses in Northern Australia"

A serological survey of cattle from throughout Queensland and sheep from cattle/sheep interface areas was conducted to determine the distribution and prevalence of antibodies to Bluetongue virus serotypes. This information allowed preliminary designation of arbovirusfree zones and identification of livestock populations at greatest risk to introduction of exotic Bluetongue viruses. Throughout the state antibodies were detected to only serotypes I and 21. In cattle prevalence decreased with increasing distance from the coast ringing from 73% in the far north to less than I% in the southwest. In sheep, prevalence of bluetongue antibodies in the major cattle/sheep interface areas in the north-west and central Queensland ranged from O% to 5%. A system of strategically placed sentinel herds of 10 young serologically negative cattle was established across northern Australia to monitor the distribution and seasonality of bluetongue viruses. Initially 23 herds were located in Queensland, 4 in Northern Territory and 2 in Western Australia but by the completion of the project the number of herds in Queensland had been reduced to 12. No bluetongue virus activity was detected in Western Australia or Northern Territory herds throughout the project although testing of one herd in Northern Territory with a history of bluetongue activity was not done after June 1991. In Queensland, activity to bluetongue serotypes I and 21 was detected in all years of the project. Transmissions occurred predominantly in the period April to September and were more widespread in wetter years' The pathogenic bluetongue setotypes previously isolated from the Northern Territory have not spread to adjoining States.

Diet of dingoes and other wild dogs in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia

Knowledge of the resource requirements of urban predators can improve our understanding of their ecology and assist town planners and wildlife management agencies in developing management approaches that alleviate human-wildlife conflicts. Here we examine food and dietary items identified in scats of dingoes in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia to better understand their resource requirements and the potential for dingoes to threaten locally fragmented populations of native fauna. Our primary aim was to determine what peri-urban dingoes eat, and whether or not this differs between regions. We identified over 40 different food items in dingo scats, almost all of which were mammals. Individual species commonly observed in dingo scats included agile wallabies, northern brown bandicoots and swamp wallabies. Birds were relatively common in some areas but not others, as were invertebrates. Dingoes were identified as a significant potential threat to fragmented populations of koalas. Dietary overlap was typically very high or near-identical between regions, indicating that peri-urban dingoes ate the same types or sizes of prey in different areas. Future studies should seek to quantify actual and perceived impacts of, and human attitudes towards, peri-urban dingoes, and to develop management strategies with a greater chance of reducing human-wildlife conflicts.