This Newsletter
This is the MLSSA Newsletter, the monthly publication of the Marine Life Society Of South Australia Inc. Our Society is active in trying to protect our marine environment and this Newsletter usually contains articles about marine life and the marine environment. Copyright - the contents of this Newsletter are copyright and may not be reproduced without prior permission of the Society. Disclaimer - The opinions expressed by authors of material published in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Society.
Subscriptions
You can join the Society or just subscribe to our Newsletter and Journal. To do either, please complete the form inside the back cover of this Newsletter and mail it with the appropriate payment to our postal address.
The postal address of the Society is :-
Please send all general correspondence, subscriptions or Newsletter and Journal contributions to this address. Correspondence may be marked to the attention of the Secretary. Subscriptions may be marked to the attention of the Treasurer. Newsletter or Journal contributions may be marked to the attention of the Editor.
Meetings of the Society.
General Meetings of the Society are held on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8 PM . At the CONSERVATION COUNCIL 120 WAKEFIELD STREET The Meeting will start at 8 PM Sharp. Parking is adjacent to the rear door entry.
President’s Report
New Constitution
This was confirmed as the replacement Constitution for our Society
at the February meeting. The previous Constitution was dated October 1983,
and was in need of an update. The Incorporation’s body recommends a regular
revision of the Constitution, but owing to the work involved and the cost
($33) it is probably only needed every decade or so. Any volunteers for
the job in 2oo7? Let the President know nearer the time. This revision
was completely re-written twice and underwent nine (9) printed revisions
over 18 months, before its acceptance. Thanks must go to Geoffrey Mower
and Peter Gilbert for their interest and assistance in producing an up
to date and workable document.
Speakers
Those who were unable to attend our February Meeting missed an excellent
speaker in Dave Brooksby from Southern Diving at Christies Beach. He replaced
our scheduled speaker at short notice and provided us with an interesting
and amusing talk. Many speakers have been booked for this year and I would
ask members and their friends, and other people interested in our Society
who read this, to come along to what promises to be several very interesting
evenings. A full list of speakers appears later in this Newsletter together
with a summary of Dave’s talk and slideshow.
Ethics
This topic was mentioned at the February meeting and more information
appears later in this Newsletter for you to consider. We will have a discussion,
during a General Meeting, later in the year.
Next Meeting
We return to the Conservation Centre for our meeting this month. Paul Manning from the MFP will be our guest speaker for the evening. His topic is stormwater. The meeting will start at 8pm on Wednesday 19th March.
New Member
We have another new member to welcome. It is Ron Greer of the Edinburgh RAAF base. It seems that Ron is a diver and he recently did a dive trip to Yorke Peninsula where he heard about MLSSA. Welcome aboard Ron, we hope to meet you soon.
Future Guest Speakers
Malcolm Ludgate's presentation has been postponed to our April meeting. Tony Cheshire will be our June guest to discuss Reefwatch. In July Mark Staniforth will talk about marine archaeology.
Annual General Meeting
This year's AGM is being held on 21st May at the Conservation Centre. Society officers are required to hand their annual reports to the Secretary at the April meeting.
The SA Government is developing a Marine & Estuarine Strategy for
our state. A workshop to develop a framework for the strategy was held
earlier this month. Christine Charles is the Chair of the Strategy Steering
Committee. She says that our marine & estuarine environments represent
an important source of economic wealth & recreational amenity to SA.
They also show a very high level of species diversity and endemism. The
strategy will provide a framework for addressing a range of issues pertinent
to their management and provide a guide for decision making into the future.
We first heard about the strategy when we sent the following letter to
MP's & Ministers:-
Dear Sir/Madam
Re: Marine Protected Areas
SA led the way in the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA's) in the 1970's. We have, however, lagged behind since then. Very few MPA's have since been created. We applaud the creation of the Great Australian Bight marine park earlier this year and support the Federal Government proposal to extend the park. All of our other existing MPA's are small in number and area covered. We support the Scuba Divers Federation of SA who wish to have more MPA's created. We also support the proposals in the 1979 report "Marine Reserves in South Australia: Proposals for some Future Directions" by Ottaway et al - i.e. extend existing MPA'S, extend terrestrial reserves into the sea, create new MPA's, etc.. Please do whatever you can to ensure that the existing MPA's are extended and, wherever possible, new MPA's are created.Suggested areas for new MPA's are as follows:-
Steve Reynolds
Secretary
Marine Life Society of South Australia
Both David Wotton (Environment Minister) and Rob Kerin (Primary Industries Minister) told us about the strategy in their replies to us. Wotton was pleased to hear of our support for the establishment of MPA's in SA. He accepted that progress in the establishment of MPA's in recent times had been slow. He said that MPA's is one of the priority areas for the strategy. Community groups such as MLSSA are able to participate in developing the strategy. He appreciated our interest and commitment. Kerin said that the strategy will consider the entire range of issues which affect the marine & estuarine waters of the state, including the status of existing MPA's and will make recommendations concerning any future establishment and ongoing management. He noted our comments and welcomed us to make a submission to the strategy.
Great Australian Bight Marine Park Management Plan
The Department of Environment & Natural Resources recently sent a copy of a draft of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (GABMP) Management Plan to the Scuba Divers Federation of SA. The SDFSA asked our Secretary (& SDF Rep), Steve Reynolds to report details of the plan. It is in a draft form to allow the public to comment on it. The closing date for comments on the plan is 24th April. Comments will be used in the formulation of the final adopted plan. The Marine Park is significant because it is the first major marine protected area in SA. It encompasses the GABMP Whale Sanctuary and the GAB Marine National Park. The plan is in two parts, A & B. Part A comprises over 25 pages of Management Prescriptions describing how the multi-use park will be managed. Part B comprises over 63 pages of Resource Information. It describes the natural habitats and resources of the park and neighbouring waters. Our Society has background information on the park including "Proceedings: Great Australian Bight Marine Park Workhop" held in Ceduna early in 1994.
January's Meeting
After the refreshment break at our first meeting for the year we saw videos about seadragons and the tug Tancred. We then saw lots of David's underwater slides. Some of these have since gone into the Photo Index of marine fish. Some of the others were already Index slides which we were checking for identification of the fish species. A few of these were pretty tough but we got through with the help of our reference books. A really enjoyable night!
PHOTO INDEX
As mentioned before, more of David Muirhead's slides have gone into the Photo Index. Nineteen more to be exact, bringing the total to 114 slides now.
The Scuba Divers Federation of SA has purchased "A Guide to the Introduced Marine Species in Australian Waters" from the Tasmanian CSIRO Division of Fisheries Marine Laboratories. It will be kept in the federation's library. More than 70 species of marine organisms are described, along with photos and diagrams. The guide is in ring binder form and updates and supplements will be produced. (The ring binder is not provided though.) The guide (CRIMP technical report No.5) contains information about species such as the European Featherduster Worm, Greenlip Mussels, Northern Pacific Seastar and the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium minutum. The guide was written by CRIMP's Dianne Furlani. CRIMP is the Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (Australia). The guide costs $50 and can be obtained from Susan Spinks, CRIMP, Division of Fisheries, CSIRO, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania 7001. The telephone number is 03 6232 5452. The fax No. is 03 6232 5485. E-mail is spinks@ml.csiro.au. There is also a web page - http://www.ml.CSIRO.au-spinks/CRIMP/index.html.
Last Month's Meeting
Our February meeting was held at the Hallett Cove R-12 School (the third
time?). We marvelled at the numerous marine tanks on display and the new
cooling system. During the meeting we mentioned our proposed ethics guidelines.
Please advise us of any thoughts that you may have about these. Ralph spoke
about Reefwatch and his plans for a MLSSA web page on the Internet. Peter
spoke about the Star of the Sea School which is having a sponsorship launch
at 10am on Friday 21st March. Many other topics were discussed but the
main thing was that we were finally able to vote on our new constitution.
It was accepted unanimously! Malcolm Ludgate could not attend the meeting
so Dave Brooksby stepped in at short notice instead. He spoke about dive
safety and new technology in diving equipment. Unfortunately I could not
stay for much of Dave's talk but I am told that it was very worthwhile
and interesting. He showed some great underwater slides taken in Borneo.
The best one's are being published! Thanks for being our guestspeaker last
month Dave.
Steve Reynolds
Fish Seen On The Dredge Or Barge Wrecks
Below is a list of fish species sighted by Society member David Muirhead on the Dredge and Barge wrecks off of Glenelg between 1988 and 1996.
| COMMON NAME | FAMILY | GENUS | SPECIES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boarfish, Brown-spotted | Pentacerotidae | Paristiopterus | gallipavo |
| Boarfish, Long-snouted | Pentacerotidae | Pentaceropsis | recurvirostris |
| Bullseye, Common | Pempheridae | Liopempheris | multiradiata |
| Catfish, Estuary | Plotosidae | Cnidoglanis | macrocephalus |
| Coral Fish | Chaetodontidae | Chelmonops | truncatus |
| Cowfish, Shaw's | Ostraciidae | Aracana | aurita |
| Drummer, Silver | Kyphosidae | Kyphosus | sydneyanus |
| Flathead, Dusky | Platycephalidae | Platycephalus | fuscus |
| Flathead, Tassel-snouted | Platycephalidae | Thysanophrys | cirronasus |
| Garfish, SA | Hemiramphidae | Hyporamphus | melanochir |
| Globe Fish | Diodontidae | Diodon | nicthemerus |
| Grubfish, Wavy | Mugiloididae | Parapercis | haackei |
| Gurnard Perch, Gulf | Scorpaenidae | Neosebastes | bougainvilli |
| Leatherjacket, Blue-tailed | Monacanthidae | Eubalichthys | cyanoura |
| Leatherjacket, Horseshoe | Monacanthidae | Meuschenia | hippocrepis |
| Leatherjacket, Mosaic | Monacanthidae | Eubalichthys | mosaicus |
| Leatherjacket, Pygmy | Monacanthidae | Brachaluteres | jacksonianus |
| Leatherjacket, Rough | Monacanthidae | Scobinichthys | granulatus |
| Leatherjacket, Six-spined | Monacanthidae | Meuschenia | freycineti |
| Leatherjacket, Spiny-tailed | Monacanthidae | Bigener | brownii |
| Leatherjacket, Velvet | Monacanthidae | Parika | scaber |
| Leatherjacket, Yellow-striped | Monacanthidae | Meuschenia | flavolineata |
| Ling, Rock | Ophidiidae | Genypterus | tigerinus |
| Moonlighter | Microcanthidae | Tilodon | sexfasciatum |
| Morwong, Dusky | Cheilodactylidae | Dactylophora | nigricans |
| Morwong, Magpie (Perch) | Cheilodactylidae | Goniistius | vizonarius |
| Mullet, Red | Mullidae | Upeneichthys | porosus |
| Old Wife | Enoplosidae | Enoplosus | armatus |
| Pike, Long-finned | Dinolestidae | Dinolestes | lewini |
| Roughy | Trachichthyidae | Trachichthys | australis |
| Salmon, WA | Arripidae | Arripis | truttaceus |
| Seaperch, Black-banded | Serranidae | Hypoplectodes | nigrorubrum |
| Silverbelly | Gerreidae | Parequula | melbournensis |
| Tommy Rough | Arripidae | Arripis | georgianus |
| Trachinops, Yellow-headed | Plesiopidae | Trachinops | noarlungae |
| Trevally, Silver | Carangidae | Pseudocaranx | dentex |
| Wrasse, Black-spotted | Labridae | Austrolabrus | maculatus |
| Wrasse, Blue-throated | Labridae | Notolabrus | tetricus |
| Wrasse, Brown-spotted | Labridae | Pseudolabrus | parilus |
| Wrasse, Castelnau's | Labridae | Dotalabrus | aurantiacus |
| Wrasse, Senator | Labridae | Pictilabrus | laticlavius |
Ethics Guidelines
During the 1996 Royal Show I came across a Membership Application and Code of Conduct put out by the South Australian Native Fish Association. I will list appropriate/amended parts of their Code for your consideration and to add to the Background Details on Ethics contained in the February Newsletter.
MLSSA member Ron Bellchambers recently sent a letter to us all with information on his recent snorkelling activities. He is having a great time and finding a large and varied number of creatures. He also extends an invitation to members, who wish to dive the area, to contact him if they would like to stay at his place. His address and contact number is:-
Mr R. Bellchambers,
1 Eldon Street,
Maitland,
S. A. 5573
Phone (08) 8832 2147
Thank you Ron for your very kind offer.
Philip Hall
MARINE LIFE SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.
SUBSCRIPTION FORM.
DATE . . . . . . . . . . .
NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ADDRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . POSTCODE . . . . . . .
TELEPHONE . . . . . . . . . .
MEMBERSHIP
(please tick which category)
FEES : STUDENT $20 SINGLE $25 FAMILY/CORP $30
(Fees become due on 1st April each year. New members who join the Society
after 31st September only pay half
fees.)
Please find enclosed my payment of $ . . . . for membership/Newsletter subscriptions.
Signed . . . . . . . . . . . .,
INTERESTS - please tick,
Studying marine life
Diving trips,
Keeping marine aquaria,
Photography,
Other related interests of marine life,
Please post the completed form, along with your payment, to -
| To Home Page |