Feeding Ecology of a Scorpaenid Fish, the Fortescue Centropogon australis, from a Posidonia Seagrass Habitat in New South Wales

1978 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Bell ◽  
JJ Burchmore ◽  
DA Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Fish Community ◽  
Alimentary Tract ◽  
Seagrass Meadow ◽  
New South ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Average Density ◽  
Seagrass Habitat ◽  
Invertebrate Community ◽  
Food Items ◽  
South Wales

Examination of the stomach contents of 153 predominantly sub-adult (modal standard length c. 40 mm) fortescues, C. australis, collected from an estuarine Posidonia aulstralis seagrass meadow near Sydney showed that these fish were macrophagic carnivores. Crustaceans (mainly grapsid crabs and penaeid and carid shrimps) made up 90% of the diet by estimated volume; other major food types included polychaete worms and gastropod molluscs. Minor food items included seagrass, algae and foraminiferans. This predominantly crustacean diet was found to be generally similar to that of a number of other scorpaenid species. No obvious seasonal differences in diet were detected apart from slight changes in the composition of the crustacean component. The morphology of the alimentary tract of C. australis is of a typical carnivorous type. Fortescues were found to be relatively abundant in the Posidonia habitat, representing, on average, 11 .5 % of the fish community by numbers and occurring at an average density of 1 fish per 14 m2. Sub-adult fortescues appear to be highly dependent on the Posidonia habitat and its invertebrate community as a food source.

Feeding Ecology of Three Sympatric Species of Leatherjackets (Pisces : Monacanthidae) from a Posidonia Seagrass Habitat in New South Wales

1978 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 631 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Bell ◽  
JJ Burchmore ◽  
DA Pollard
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Seagrass Habitat ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Epiphytic Algae ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Animal Material

Three species of leatherjackets, Monacanthus chinensis, Meuschenia freycineti and Meuschenia trachylepis, averaged 34% of the total biomass and 27% of the total numbers of fishes in a Posidonia australis seagrass habitat near Sydney. Monacanthus chinensis was dominant, comprising 22% of the total biomass and 18% of the total numbers in this fish community. All three species were omnivorous, consuming considerable amounts of seagrass and algae as well as animal material. However, only the encrusting fauna and epiphytic algae of the seagrass appeared to be actually digested. Other foods of all three species included hydroids, molluscs, crustaceans and polychaetes. Meuschenia freycineti consumed the largest quantities (65%) of seagrass, Monacanthus chinensis consumed the largest amount (40%) and greatest variety of animal foods, and Meuschenia trachylepis took the smallest quantity (12%) and number of animal foods and the greatest amount (55 %) of algae. All three species were found to be highly dependent on the encrusting fauna, epi- phytic algae and other epifauna and infauna of this seagrass habitat, and the importance of preserving Posidonia beds is therefore stressed.

The Stomach Contents of Foxes, Vulpes Vulpes, Collected in New South Wales.

1978 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Croft ◽  
LJ Hone
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Domestic Fowl ◽  
Vulpes Vulpes ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
The Road ◽  
Food Items ◽  
South Wales ◽  
On The Road

Foxes were killed in each of 4 seasons in the 5 years 1969-73 and a table gives numbers of stomachs with food for each year and season in each of 6 regions into which New South Wales was divided according to climate, vegetation and land use. Incidence of 11 food items or classes of food varied with region. An appendix lists precentage and volume of food items for the 811 foxes with food, out of the 899 that were killed. Main foods were rabbit, sheep and house mouse, by number and volume. The number of plant and insect items was high but the volume was low. Food included reptiles, amphibians, fish, grass and fruit. Foxes seemed to be opportunists and scavengers; food included feral pig and kangaroo when those were being shot locally, sheep carrion in the lambing season, mice during a plague of mice, domestic fowl, birds and animals probably killed on the road, and blackberries and apples in season. Insects included maggots, locusts and processionary caterpillars.

The decline, response to fire, status and management of the Eastern Bristlebird

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Baker
Keyword(s):  
Nature Reserve ◽  
New South ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
Average Density ◽  
Disjunct Distribution ◽  
Habitat Manipulation ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Western Victoria ◽  
Barren Grounds

The Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus is a threatened passerine, endemic to southeastern Australia. It is a cryptic, ground dwelling, semi-flightless inhabitant of dense, fire-prone vegetation and is usually only detected by its calls. The disjunct distribution suggests that they were once more numerous and their population continuous from southern Queensland to western Victoria. Their decline has been documented in historic and recent times. Habitat loss, nest desertion and fire have been implicated in the decline and extinction of local populations. Strongholds for the species are Barren Grounds Nature Reserve and Bherwerre Peninsula, 100 and 150 km south of Sydney respectively. At Barren Grounds, in the absence of recent fire, there were significant increases in the population between 1992 and 1996. There was a trend of increasing Eastern Bristlebird density with increasing fire-age of habitat and average density plateauing at two birds per 5 ha, 10 years after fire. At Nadgee, a coastal Nature Reserve on the New South Wales/Victorian border, the population appears to be recovering very slowly from severe wildfires in 1972 and 1980. At the beginning of 1996 there were less than 2 000 individual Eastern Bristlebirds occupying an area of approximately 100 km2. For the management of Eastern Bristlebirds, habitat manipulation using prescribed fire should not be undertaken unless site-specific population monitoring data demonstrate that it would be beneficial. Concentrations of Eastern Bristlebirds and potential fire refuges should be protected from unplanned fire. For prescription burns, potential escape routes need to be planned for Eastern Bristlebirds. The threatened status should be changed from Vulnerable to Endangered.

Food of the Black Duck and Grey Teal in Coastal Northern New South Wales.

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
GN Goodrick
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Food Items ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Water Beetle ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
Maize Grain

The study area of 500 km2 was humid and subtropical, on flood plain near Coraki, New South Wales. Gut contents were examined and the percentage by volume of different food items is tabulated for black duck (Anas superciliosa) and grey teal (A. gibberifrons). Black duck fed on flooded meadow-grass flats in autumn, moving when the flats dried to seasonal swamps, and when those also dried, to lagoons. Diet varied with place. Seeds of grasses, swamp plants and lagoon plants were eaten, with water snails and water beetle adults and larvae, water spiders and ostracods, and terrestrial invertebrates being eaten when the dry flats became flooded. They ate also waste maize grain from harvested fields before ploughing. Grey teal fed in the seasonal swamps in winter and then left the area almost completely; they ate almost the same items as black duck but fed by the muddy edges of seasonal swamps more than the black duck did. It was known that black duck strip seed from the growing plant and grey teal pick up the fallen seed.

Seasonal Changes in Diet Preferences of Free-Ranging Red Kangaroos, Euros and Sheep in Western New South Wales.

1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
BA Ellis ◽  
EM Russell ◽  
TJ Dawson ◽  
CJF Harrop
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Ovis Aries ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Selective Eating ◽  
Free Ranging

Stomach contents of free-ranging animals were analysed botanically for low Atriplex shrubland in western New South Wales, Australia, during 1972-74 in good seasons producing abundant growth and diversity of vegetation. Red kangaroo (Megaleia rufa), euro (Macropus robustus) and sheep (Ovis aries) selected grass and forbs when those were readily available. In poorer pasture sheep selected mainly flat-leaved chenopods (saltbush) and kangaroos selected mainly grass with different amounts of flat- or round-leaved chenopods. Euros were the most selective, eating grass even when there was little grass present. Potential overlaps in diet between kangaroos and sheep were greatest in good pasture and least in the poorest conditions. The other groups of plants considered were non-chenopod shrubs and browse. Extent of overlap was not clear, because animals may have eaten different species within the groups of plants. The study period did not include any severe drought, in which overlap in diet and competition between animal species would have been most significant.

Ecology of Botany Bay. II. Aspects of the Feeding Ecology of the Fanbellied Leatherjacket, Monacanthus chinensis (Pisces : Monacanthidae), in Pisidonia australis Seagrass Beds in Quibray Bay, Botany Bay, New South Wales

1979 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Conacher ◽  
WJR Lanzing ◽  
AWD Larkum
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Seagrass Beds ◽  
Labile Carbon ◽  
Epiphytic Algae ◽  
Food Items ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Carbon Compounds ◽  
14C Labelling ◽  
Tide Height

The fanbellied leatherjacket, M. chinensis, was found to ingest fresh seagrass as a major part of its diet. Other important food items were gammarid amphipods, carid shrimps and several species of epiphytic algae. All food items were of seagrass bed origin. Microscopic examination of gut contents suggested that seagrass and algae did not appear to be digested by the fish, but 14C-labelling of the plants showed that significant amounts of the labile carbon compounds were removed and assimilated during digestion. The fanbellied leatherjacket was found to feed in the seagrass beds during the day, probably relying on eyesight for detecting food. Variations in tide height did not seem to affect their feeding pattern. The amounts of seagrass, algae, amphipods and shrimps removed by M. chinensis in Quibray Bay were calculated and compared with the availability of each of these foods. Grazing by M. chinensis had little effect on seagrass and algae production rates and standing crops, but probably had a significant influence on carid shrimp and amphipod populations.

Food of the Snake-Necked Turtle, Chelodina Longicollis (Shaw) (Testudines: Chelidae) in the Murray Valley, Victoria and New South Wales.

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 573 ◽  
Author(s):  
BC Chessman
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
New South ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Planktonic Crustaceans ◽  
Chelodina Longicollis

The diet of C. longicollis was inferred from analysis ofthe stomach contents of 105 turtles collected from the Murray River and associated water bodies in south-eastem Australia. The most important food items in terms of volume were carrion and decapod crustaceans in the river, camon and littoral-benthic invertebrates in lakes and ponds containing fish, and planktonic crustaceans (mostly Cladocera) in ponds and pools without fish. Terrestrial invertebrates, which had presumably fallen into the water, nektonic insects and whole fish were also eaten. Diet varied relatively little with turtle size and sex, although juveniles ate relatively less carrion and more littoral and benthic invertebrates than adults. Within the constraints of its obligate carnivory, C. longicollis is a catholic and opportunistic feeder.

Diet of the Murray Turtle, Emydura-Macquarii (Gray) (Testudines, Chelidae)

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
BC Chessman
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Macrophytes ◽  
Aquatic Invertebrates ◽  
New South ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Filamentous Algae ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Dietary Shift ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Males And Females

Examination of the stomach contents of 122 E. macquarii from the Murray River, Lake Boga and other waters in northern Victoria and southern New South Wales showed that this species is an opportunistic omnivore. In order of decreasing importance the main food types were filamentous algae, vertebrate (mainly fish) carrion, detritus, periphyton (including sponges), mobile aquatic invertebrates, aquatic macrophytes and terrestrial invertebrates. There was a degree of dietary shift with turtle size, small specimens containing more detritus and periphyton and less filamentous algae, macrophytes and carrion than bigger ones. The diets of mature males and females did not differ appreciably. Diel changes in stomach content volumes indicated that E. macquarii feeds mainly during the daytime.

Structure of a fish community in a temperate tidal mangrove creek in Botany Bay, New South Wales

1984 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Bell ◽  
DA Pollard ◽  
JJ Burchmore ◽  
BC Pease ◽  
MJ Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Fish Community ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Resident Species ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Mangrove Creek ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Permanent Residents

The fish assemblage in the lower reaches of a temperate tidal mangrove creek entering Botany Bay near Sydney, New South Wales, was sampled using rotenone every second month between December 1977 and October 1980. Almost 17 000 fish (weight ~ 115 kg), belonging to 46 species and 24 families, were collected. Six species dominated the assemblage and another four were relatively common. Fourteen species, including four of the above, were economically important. These fishes made up 38% of individuals and 32% of biomass and were represented only by small juveniles. Nineteen species (41%) were temporary residents; these mainly comprised juveniles of large species that live elsewhere as adults. Fifteen species (33%), most of which only attain a small size (< 100 mm), were assumed to be permanent residents. The remaining 12 species (26%) occurred in only one sample and were, therefore, classified as rare. The diversity (HI) and evenness (J') of the fish community were low and showed little seasonality because a few species dominated the assemblage on an irregular basis. Numbers of species and of individuals varied seasonally and were significantly correlated. Peaks in these parameters lagged behind those in water temperature by 4 months and were largely the result of the relatively restricted recruitment periods of several abundant temporary resident species. The large numbers of juveniles and small species in the mangrove creek habitat were attributed to the availability of suitable shelter and food for such small fishes. Concerted use of the mangrove habitat by several abundant temporary resident species during the same general period each year appeared to be facilitated by the occupation of otherwise vacant feeding niches and some staggering of their peak recruitment periods. Exclusive use of this habitat by small juveniles of several species in Botany Bay confirms that mangrove habitats in temperate Australia, like some of those studied in tropical and subtropical regions, are important nursery areas for fishes inhabiting adjacent estuarine and inshore marine habitats as adults.

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