Fish Ecology Lab in Bentley, Western Australia | College & University

Fish Ecology Lab

Locality: Bentley, Western Australia

Address: Turner Ave 6102 Bentley, WA, Australia

Website: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0URuek0A0g8xXxYc6Dtspg

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25.01.2022 Methods in Ecology and Evolution have produced a video abstract for our recently published stereo-DOV paper. Check it our here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGb_kfeGqI to better understand some of the work that we undertake at the Fish Ecology Lab.

25.01.2022 We have been monitoring the Exmouth Integrated Artificial Reef. This video shows what fish are living there after 4 months.

25.01.2022 How valuable are man-made structures? The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation has recently funded a one year a project which aims to gain an understanding of the social and economic values of man-made aquatic structures to commercial and recreational fishers and other users in order to manage perceptions, and risk and capitalise on opportunities. Man-made marine structures could include artificial reefs, jetties, shipwrecks and oil and gas infrastructure such as pi...pelines and platforms. Globally, these man-made structures are used by commercial and recreational fishers, tourism operators and recreational scuba divers and snorkelers. This one year project involves researchers from Curtin University, University of Western Australia, The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. As part of this research we are seeking to understand the different stakeholder views (commercial and recreational fishers, divers, community and council member etc.) surrounding the value of manmade marine structures in particular areas. About the survey Structures such as artificial reefs are playing an increasing role in our marine environment, environmentally and recreationally. To plan the future direction and potential development of these structures, a better understanding is needed of the value they provide. Your participation will help us understand how these structures are used and their importance to you and to metropolitan and regional communities. To complete the survey, visit: www.tiny.cc/reefs Want to know more? Full details of the research are available at: www.frdc.com.au/project/2018-053 Email Dr Julian Clifton ([email protected]) putting the words 'Qualtrics Survey' in the subject line. Prize-draw Upon completion of the survey, you will be invited to take part in a prize-draw. Many thanks for participating.

24.01.2022 An underwater world last Christmas Eve. Video footage collected along the continental shelf, adjacent to Bremer Bay in Western Australia, by CMST PhD Candidate,... Lauren Hawkins. A big thank you to Graeme Drew and crew for their assistance in the deployment and to the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment Fund and the Ecological Society of Australia for their support. See more

21.01.2022 I was doing some cleaning out today and found an old photo of the first diver operated stereo-video system which I built in 1993. This system, which was supported by Sony New Zealand, is the equipment upon which much of the theory of underwater stereo-video was developed as well as the validation of measurement accuracy and precision. The calibration strategies and protocols which are used today were based off trials with this system. Thankfully the systems have become smal...ler over the years! This was all part of my PhD which was supervised and supported by my close colleague and friend Prof Mark Shortis at RMIT in Melbourne. The protocols that we developed led me to developing the diver operated stereo-video systems (stereo-DOVs), Baited Remote Underwater Stereo-Video systems (Stereo-BRUVs) and Remote Operated Stereo-Videos (Stereo-ROVs). They became popular enough that I developed Standard Operating Procedures in the early 2000s for Stereo-DOVs and BRUVs so that other researchers could follow the procedures we were using. Over the last 18 months these have been been made more accessible in two publications, one Stereo-DOVs https://rdcu.be/bzAF3 the other on Stereo-BRUVs https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13470 It is great to see these published and that stereo-DOVs and Stereo-BRUVs are gaining in popularity and aceeptance. There were many doubters in marine science in the mid to late 90s who thought I was a crazy Kiwi (probably a fair call). I ackowledge the support and encouragement to keep pursuing this line of research and development from Howard Choat, Chris Battershill, Phil Mladenov and later Mike Cappo. Also the support of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation in Australia who funded a video sampling workshop in 2001 (see http://frdc.com.au/Archive/FRDC%20Projects/2000-187-DLD.pdf) and BRUVs workshop in 2010 (see http://frdc.com.au/Archive/FRDC%20Projects/2010-002-DLD.pdf). These workshops were responsible for the adoption of these approaches by many researchers and agencies and the development of the standard operating procedures. I also acknowledge the National Marine Fisheries Service for funding me to participate in a number of workshops in the USA to transfer the approaches and strategies we were developing (https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/455/Share). I have had a lot of fun training up students and staff in the last 21 years including Mat Stadler, Dave Abdo, Dianne McLean, Ben Saunders, Steve Lindfield, Julia Santana Garcon, Katherine Cure, Cordelia Moore, Jack Parker, Claire M Wellington, Karl Schraam, Savita Goldsworthy, Logan Helmrich, Ben Fitzpatrick, Jacquomo Monk, Jordan Goetze, Adrian Ferguson, Ronen Galaiduk, Jake Asher, Kosta Stamoulis, Brae Price, Todd Bond, Tim Langlois, Matt Birt, Laura Fullwood, Damon Driessen, Ben Piek and Mark Westera to name a few.

20.01.2022 Congratulations to staff in the eDNA/environmental DNA research groups for their success - recipients of the first 5 BHP-Curtin Alliance research studies under the eDGES project! https://news.curtin.edu.au//new-bhp-curtin-alliance-to-d/

20.01.2022 If anyone is looking for a PhD scholarship on a multidisciplinary marine science research project I can highly recommend this project with Daniel Ierodiaconou at Deakin University. I highly recommend Daniel as a supervisor and researcher. [email protected] https://www.deakin.edu.au//hdr-scholarship-the-influence-o

19.01.2022 The Fish Ecology Lab are involved in monitoring the Exmouth Artificial Integrated Reef (which has been named King Reef). Euan Harvey, Maarten De Brauwer, Laura Fullwood, Chynna Cahill and Rowan Kleindienst have travelled up to Exmouth to establish the monitoring program. We have been working with community and Recfishwest to establish a citizen science program where community members are using stereo-BRUVs to collect samples both at King Reef and four control sites. Sony spo...nsored Sony Action cameras for the citizen science program and made it feasible for us to provide the community group with 15 stereo-BRUVs. We are using a small Blue ROV fitted with a stereo-video system to record the abundance and lengths of fish at King Reef and a number of control sites. This allows us to record fish not only the changes in the fish assemblage in comparison to the control sites, but also to compare how the fish respond to the different structures. A short video shows how many fish are now using the reef after less than 4 months. We are also collecting water and sediment samples that we will process for environmental DNA in collaboration with Mike Bunce and the Trace environmental DNA lab at Curtin. The TRenD lab are world leaders in eDNA and with their knowledge we will get a much more detailed picture of how the King Reef is performing. To find out more about King Reef see the following video. https://recfishwest.org.au//king-reef-was-newest-fishing-p

19.01.2022 It has been a great year for our honours students Chynna Cahill, Steph Watts, Brae Price, Georgia Nester, Luke Loudon and Karl Schraam. They have all done exceptionally well and learnt lots. Congratulations to you all and we look forward to tracking where you go in the future. Many thanks to those people who have taken time to supervise and guide them, especially Jordan Goetze, Ben Saunders, Mike Marnane, Stephen Newman, Corey Wakefield and Sangeeta Mangubhai and Euan Harvey.... Your efforts and time are greatly appreciated. Many thanks to those people who assisted as examiners especially Dianne McLean, Travis Elsdon, Maarten De Brauwer, Will Robbins, Mike Travers, Zoe Richards, Shaun Wilson, Conrad Speed and Ben Saunders. A special thanks to Mike Bunce for coordinating the Curtin Environmental and Marine Science Honours program which had over 20 students this year! See more

19.01.2022 Congratulations to Dr. Maarten De Brauwer who officially passed his PhD today. We wish him success in his new postdoctoral position at Leeds University (he should be in the air now on his way from Australia) continuing his research on cryptic species in Indonesia.

19.01.2022 We would to congratulate Karl Schramm who today published the first paper from his masters. The paper compares data collected from BRUVs, Drift video. DOVs and an ROV. Thanks to Jordan Goetze, Mike Travers, Bryn Warnock, Ben Saunders and Euan Harvey who coauthored the paper and also to Laura Fullwood, Damon Driessen and Lizzy Myers for helping to collect and analsye the imagery. You can access the paper at https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1a6Ah_WA33XmR... for the next 50 days See more

19.01.2022 https://crittersresearch.com//guestblog-environmental-dn/

18.01.2022 Congratulations to our Honours students, Brae Price, Chynna Cahill, Karl Schramm, Luke Loudon, and Steph Watts. After a very busy year they finished up with honours defence seminars this week and all did an amazing job. Well done!

18.01.2022 Recfishwest is looking for Research Interns! Recfishwest is a community organisation that strives for sustainable, accessible, enjoyable and safe fishing for al...l West Australians. Key areas of the organisation include policy, research and communications, all of which help us protect and develop fishing experiences and aquatic ecosystems for the future. We are currently searching for two Research Interns to assist with Western Australias growing artificial reef network. The placement would involve 2 days per week based at the Recfishwest Office in Hillarys as well as your institution of study, over a 3-month period. Depending on your course, there may be an opportunity to accrue points for your degree. The internship is an industry research placement and will provide you with essential workplace skills to assist you with your future career. The roles may include (but are not limited to) conducting literature reviews, creating project reports, analysing data and potentially sampling in the field. There is also the opportunity to be involved with Recfishwest events and projects after completion. If you have a passion for science, fishing and the marine environment, please email [email protected]

18.01.2022 Congratulations to Savita Goldsworthy and Karl Schraam who have both submitted their masters thesis. Savita's thesis was entitled "Assessing the current distribution of Southwestern Australian shallow-water reef fish assemblages in relation to management bioregions, and the change in these assemblages over time". Karl's title was "A Comparison of Stereo-video Techniques for assessing Fish Communities On and Off Spatially Limited Habitats".... We are looking forward to having another beer to celebrate the submission again (and again) and to their graduation. Well done Savita and Karl!

17.01.2022 Small changes to the way industry operate ROVs could lead to new scientific discoveries, further understanding of the impact of artificial structures and the collection of abiotic and biotic data to validate changing oceanic conditions and marine life. For further insight please find the paper here: https://www.frontiersin.org//10.3389/fmars.2020.00220/full Congratulations to all the authors involved including some friends and colleagues of the Fish Eco lab Euan Harvey; Dianne McLean; Todd Bond; Miles Parsons; Mike Bunce.

17.01.2022 It has been a great start to the year with a number of research papers being published in 2019. One of the papers by Lydia Luise Bach,Ben Saunders, Stephen Newman, Tom Holmes and Euan Harvey investigates the variation in reef fish assemblages around the Perth Metropolitan associated with sampling across shelf and along the shore and discuss the implications for conservation and fisheries management. The paper entitled "Cross and long-shore variations in reef fish assemblage s...tructure and implications for biodiversity management" was published in volume 218 of Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science and can be downloaded free of charge till the 26th of February 2019 by clicking on the link below. https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1YMGT~1MBVYTA Abstract. Fish communities are an important cultural, recreational and commercial resource that also have an important role in the functioning of marine ecosystems. Around the world fish assemblages are experiencing pressures from anthropogenic activities, and marine spatial planning is being established to mitigate these impacts and assist with biodiversity conservation. Information about how fish assemblages are structured across a range of spatial scales which encompass variations in physical, biotic and environmental parameters will assist marine spatial planning and management. We investigated differences in reef fish assemblage composition over three reef lines across an inshore to offshore gradient (323m depth) at two marine reserves (70 km apart) in the Perth metropolitan region, Western Australia. There were significant increases in the number of individuals, species richness, and relative abundance of fish species across the shallow shelf depth gradient in the two locations. There were distinct fish assemblages associated with each reef line, correlated to depth and distance from shore. The differences across the shelf gradient, even over this small depth range, were greater than the differences between the two locations. These findings have implications for marine spatial management and the design of marine reserves that aim to conserve biodiversity. It may be most appropriate for such marine reserves to encompass a wide depth gradient, rather than a large longshore area. At the very least, cross and longshore patterns in fish assemblages should be taken into consideration and used to guide spatial management plans for biodiversity conservation.

17.01.2022 One of the PhD students in the TrEnD Lab at Curtin is undertaking some important research on Corals and has entered the 2019 Plant and Animal Sciences SMRT Grant Program. He has made a small video (click the link at the bottom to see more). Please support his research by clicking on the video link and voting for his research. My name is Arne Adam, PhD student from the TrEnD lab at Curtin University, Western Australia and the main objective of my PhD is to find out how cora...l reefs in WA will change in the future. It is a well known fact that coral reefs are declining fast at a global scale. I feel it is my obligation and drive as a marine biologist/ conservationist to prevent these beautiful ecosystems from disappearing forever. In one of my projects, I investigate why certain corals are stronger, more tolerant than other to withstand changing environmental conditions . I recently entered a video competition to win a free whole genome sequencing service of the coral Isopora brueggemani, an important reef building coral. This service will help me uncover new insights in the resilience potential of coral species and propel my research to new heights. It would be fantastic if you could vote for my project and distribute across your colleagues to further my quest to preserve these precious marine ecosystems for the next generations. Ive created a little video explaining all this so please watch and dont forget to vote! HOW TO VOTE: 1. Click this link: https://www.pacb.com//2019-plant-and-animal-sciences-smrt/ 2019 Plant and Animal Sciences SMRT Grant Program - pacb.com www.pacb.com Quality Statement. Pacific Biosciences is committed to providing high-quality products that meet customer expectations and comply with regulations. 2. Scroll down the page and put in your details (name and email address) and select Stony Coral 3. You will receive a confirmation email once your vote has been submitted. Thank you so much for being part of my journey and to help continue to do research on what David Attenborough describes as "One of the greatest, and most splendid natural treasures that the world possesses."

17.01.2022 Congratulations to the Global FinPrint team (https://globalfinprint.org/) for their paper in Nature today on the global status of tropical reef sharks. The project which was funded Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Vulcan Inc. reveals sharks are virtually absent on many of the worlds coral reefs. Sharks were not observed on nearly 20 percent of the 371 reefs surveyed in 58 countries, indicating a widespread decline that has largely gone undocumented until this global survey. ... Reef sharks are those species that spend the majority of their life history on or around reef habitats or species that regularly visit reefs. Australian reef shark populations are among the healthiest in the world. This is because fisheries management and marine conservation is effective and well-governed with strong, science-based management limiting the harvest of sharks. It is also recognised that reef sharks play a key role in the maintenance of healthy reef systems such as those in Western Australia. Congraluations to the project PIs Aaron MacNeil, Demian Chapman, Mike Heithaus, Colin Simpfendorfer, Michelle Huepel, Mark Meekan and Euan Harvey. Thank you to WCS-Fiji, WCS and Fisheries WA for supporting the Curtin component fo this research project and to WCS, the Niarchos family and Curtin University for supporting @JordanGoetze postdoctoral salary. The paper can be found at https://rdcu.be/b5MCE The Global FinPrint is an initiative of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and led by Florida International University, supported by a global coalition of partner organizations spanning researchers, funders and conservation groups. The project represents the single largest and most comprehensive data-collection and analysis program of the worlds populations of reef-associated sharks and rays ever compiled.

15.01.2022 Congratulations to Katrina West who handed in her PhD thesis on Thursday. Her thesis was titiled "The development and application of eDNA metabarcoding for aquatic biomonitoring in Australias Indian Ocean region" . Many thanks to Mike Bunce, Zoe Richards and Euan Harvey for supervision. Katrina also got the first chapter of her thesis published in Molecular Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15382 Her paper used environmental DNA to survey marine communities at the Cocos Keeling Islands. Thanks to Michael Stat, Craig Skepper, Joey DiBattista, Mike Travers, Stephen Newman and Mike Bunce for collabporating and makingthis work possible.

15.01.2022 Adam Koziol's honours has been published in a recent paper in Molecular Ecology Resources. The paper compares environmental DNA from samples collected from surface water, marine sediment, settlementplates and planktonic tows. Congratulations to all the coauthors including Michael Stat,Tiffany Simpson, Simon Jarman, Joey DiBattista, Euan Harvey, Michael Marnane, Justin Mcdonald and Mike Bunce. The paper can be read at the link below.

15.01.2022 Congratulations to our PhD student Etienne Rastoin on the publication of the following article: https://www.sciencedirect.com//arti/pii/S0272771418310126. The publication shows that the stereo-DOVS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGb_kfeGqI) are a useful tool to characterize and monitor reef spawning aggregations of a wrasse species in the Galapagos. Well done Euan Harvey and Jordan Goetze for their support, supervision and publication.

14.01.2022 Our first global analysis assessing the status of reef sharks is complete. The good news? Conservation potential remains high - shark populations benefi...t from fisheries management, shark sanctuaries, and closed areas. The bad news? Reef sharks were not observed on 20% of coral reefs sampled, highlighting the negative effect of fishing. Being close to large human populations with weak governance is bad for sharks. This study would not have been possible without the support of Vulcan Inc. and our 104 collaborating organizations across 58 countries. Our dedicated scientists and volunteers watched 15,165 hours of BRUV footage from 371 coral reefs thats almost 2 full years! Read more in our paper published today in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2519-y

14.01.2022 Occasionally we arent researching fish and enjoy an evening out together with our token UWA MEG representative Todd Bond. Great night, thanks everyone! Jack, Brae, Karl, Rowan, Laura and others that cant be tagged.

14.01.2022 Congratulations Miwa Takahashi on her recent publication looking at the diet partitioning of two commercially important red snapper species: Lutjanus malabaricus and Lutjanus erythropterus. Thank you to the co-authors for their contributions and combined extensive knowledge: Joey DiBattista, Simon Jarman, Stephen Newman, Corey Wakefield, Euan Harvey and Mike Bunce. The paper can be accessed through the following link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60779-9

11.01.2022 Congratulations to our Masters student Jack Parker who passed his thesis on Friday afternoon. The reports from his examiners were very glowing. Jack's thesis which was titled "Geographical and Temporal Changes of Reef Fish (Labridae) Assemblages: A Case Study of South Western Australia" investigated how labrid populations living on shallow reefs changed between Geraldton and Esperance between 2006 and 2015. This involved a lot of diving and doing stereo-video transects and ...a lot of image analysis. Jack found that the there was a big difference in the composition of the labrid populations as you dived from Geraldton and moved south and that the populations changed greatly between 2006 and 2015. This was most likely as a result of increasing sea surface temperatures with tropical labrids moving south. He also found that some of the long lived and endemic labrids such as the Western Blue Groper and the Western Foxfish (pictured) have decreased in number. This is a real concern as these species are probably vulnerable to the combination of climate change and fishing. Thanks to Ben Saunders, Joey DiBattista and Scott Bennett who helped me supervise Jack. We are all very proud of your achievement Jack. Thanks for working with us. See more

11.01.2022 Congratulations to our ex-student and friend ...Doctor Maarten De Brauwer! Wishing you a fulfilling, successful and most importantly "mucky" future

10.01.2022 Congrats to our masters student @Savita Goldsworthy for publishing her first paper looking at shallow reef fish assemblages along WA's south west coast. Sav has worked super hard to reach this point; undertaking many hours of diving, watching video footage and crunching through data. Well done https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v649/p125-140/

10.01.2022 Last week Recfishwest CEO (Andrew Rowland) and I did a TV interview on GWN about some of the research we have been doing investigating the fish life associated with some of the Oil and Gas Instructure on the NW shelf and on the potential of artifical reefs. This also links to a Fisheries Research and Development Corporation funded project on the social and economic benefits of manmade marine infrastructure (Jetties, piers, shipwreck, artifical reefs, oil and gas infrastructu...re, ports). It is really important to understand the values that different stakeholders have and also theier concerns and the opportunities for resolving those. Manmade marine infrastructure also has an economic value making a significant contribution to local economies. Thanks to colleagues at Curtin, UWA, AIMS, WAMSI and DPIRD we will be able to answer some of the questions that different stakeholders have. The link to the GWN story is below https://www.gwn7.com.au/news/30335-fish-havens There is more information on the project in a Recfish West page https://lnkd.in/gBiZd5H and on FRDC website https://www.frdc.com.au/project/2018-053

09.01.2022 Diver Operated stereo-video was developed in New Zealand during the early 1990s to over come some of the challenges associated with doing underwater surveys of reef fish. The method is now widely accepted and used. The methods and operating procedures have been refined by the Fish Ecology Group over the last 20 years and have recently been summarised in a publication in Methods in Evolution and Ecology by Jordan Goetze, Todd Bond, Dianne McLean, Ben Saunders, Tim Langlois, St...eve Lindfield, Laura Fullwood, Damon Driessen, George Sheds, Euan Harvey. A read only version is available at https://rdcu.be/bzAF3 Abstract 1. There has been rapid uptake of stereovideobased sampling techniques to collect species, abundance and bodysize information on fish assemblages and their associated habitats. Stereovideo methods provide highly accurate estimates of bodysize, range and sampling area as well as a permanent record that can be crosschecked or resampled for additional data. Due to these advantages, diveroperated stereovideo (stereoDOV) is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to underwater visual census. 2. We provide a comprehensive guide for researchers using stereoDOVs to survey fish assemblages and their associated habitat. Information on stereoDOV design, video camera settings, field operations and video analysis are outlined. 3. StereoDOV surveys permit rapid and simultaneous collection of data on fish diversity, abundance, length and behaviour as well as their associated habitat. However, biases associated with diver presence in the water and variation in detectability should be considered and are dependent on the location and focal species of the survey. 4. We recommend using stereoDOVs for diverbased surveys of noncryptic fish assemblages, given the advantages described. An increased uptake of this methodology, following the standard procedures described herein, will reduce variation in methodology, assist in the synthesis of data on continental and global scales and provide accurate information to improve fisheries management and conservation.

08.01.2022 There is an interesting article that has been published in the Conversation about Shark Bay and the impacts of Climate Change.

08.01.2022 Yesterday Sam Russell and Logan Hellmrich did their final seminars for their honours. They both have had tremendous years and done really well and the Fish Ecology Lab would like to congratulate them both. Sam's thesis was about fish build up on the Exouth Integrated Artificial Reef. He found a rapid build up of species and numbers of fish on the reef. The abstract is pasted below. Logan did a comparison of fish surveyed by a diver operated video and a remote operated vehi...Continue reading

06.01.2022 Climate change A HOT topic around the world!! Jack Parker, our resident wrasse enthusiast and temperate specialist has published a relevant paper that investigates the changes that have occurred in wrasse assemblages in South Western Australia in the last 10 years due to increasing sea surface temperature and the 2011 heat wave event. The study which considered wrasse populations from Geraldton to Esperance found that there was a significant change in the assemblage composition in 2005 compared to 2015. The findings also revealed that long-lived temperate species, such as our endemic western fox fish and western blue grouper, seem the most negatively impacted by the warming waters. For more indepth information, check out the paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12980

06.01.2022 https://www.thisiscolossal.com//biodiversity-heritage-li/

06.01.2022 Jake Asher has just published one of his PhD papers in Marine Ecology Progress Series. The paper is entitled "Is seeing believing? Diver and video-based censuses reveal inconsistencies in roving predator estimates between regions" and is coauthored by Ivor Williams at NOAA and Euan Harvey at Curtin. The paper compares and contrasts patterns in the abundance and distribution of roving predators in Hawaii collected by UVC Point counts and Towed Diver counts and unbaited and baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (RUVS and BRUVS). The paper explores mesophotoc depths and concludes that demonstrates that the application of different methods can result in strikingly dissimilar predator estimates. The paper is open access and can be found at https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13107

06.01.2022 Well done to Claire Wellington for completing her PhD! Plenty of champagne and celebrations to be had at the next Curtin Graduation Ceremony!

05.01.2022 Climate change is very real for temperate Western Australian marine species. There is a lot of press about the impacts of climate change on coral reefs, but what about the Great Southern Reef. This is a must read article especially for those of you who like kelp and temperate marine ecosystems.

05.01.2022 Karl Schramm published the second paper of his MSc today in Marine Environmental Research comparing fish assemblages on an off oil and gas pipeplines sampled by stereo-BRUVs and an ROV fitted with a stereo-video. Even though stereo-BRUVs sampled greater diversity we recommend the use of a stereo-ROV becuase you are attracting fish to the pipeline from other habitats. You can also get density estimates rather than a relative abundance which is more useful for ecological reas...ons for a whoile range of reasons. To find out more click on the link below which is active for the next 50 days. Many thanks to his coauthors Michael Marnane, Christopher Jones, Travis Elsdon, Ben Saunders, Jordan Goetze, Laura Fullwood, Damon Driessen and Euan Harvey Abstract We compared and contrasted fish assemblage data sampled by baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (stereo-BRUVs) and stereo-video remotely operated vehicles (stereo-ROVs) from subsea pipelines, reef and soft sediment habitats. Stereo-BRUVs sampled greater fish diversity across all three habitats, with the stereo-ROV sampling ~46% of the same species on pipeline and reef habitats. Larger differences existed in soft sediment habitats, with stereo-BRUVs recording ~65% more species than the stereo-ROV, the majority of which were generalist carnivores. These differences were likely due to the bait used with stereo-BRUVs attracting fish from a large and unknown area. Fish may have also avoided the moving stereo-ROV, an effect possibly magnified in open soft sediment habitats. As a result of these biases, we recommend stereo-ROVs for assessing fish communities on pipelines due to their ability to capture fish in-situ and within a defined sampling area, but caution is needed over soft sediment habitats for ecological comparisons.

04.01.2022 Euan Harvey and Jason Alexander just got back from Exmouth from doing another round of monitoring on the Exmouth Integrated Artificial Reef. We managed to collect full data sets for environmental DNA, stereo-BRUVs and stereo-ROV transects for fish at the artificial reef and surrounding natural habitats. We were lucky enough to get a recreational dive in sponge gardens in the northern end of the gulf. These are an amazing habitat and a place few people dive because of current and visibility. We got lucky that the conditions were ideal for diving . I thought I would share some photos of the life and colours in the sponge gardens. These "sponge" habitats are not well studied and are undervalued.

04.01.2022 Welcome to Australia Yoshi!

02.01.2022 In a collaboration between Curtin University, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and The University of Queensland Tina Berry, Ben Saunders, Megan Coghlan, Michael Stat, Simon Jarman, Anthony Richardson, Claire Davies, Oliver Berry, Euan Harvey, Mike Bunce have published a paper in PLOS Genetics which demonstrates how environmental DNA can be used as a sensitive sampling tool for detecting seasonal and inter-annual changes in marine communities from ...Continue reading

01.01.2022 Congratulations Kosta Stamoulis, Euan Harvey and others on their recent publication that considers that fish wariness/avoidance to divers spatially influences fish counts. With this in mind, when MAD (minimum approach distance) was included as a predictor their species distribution models were more accurate. For the full article: https://peerj.com/articles/9246/