nowhere else on earth-briefing paper 2011

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Nowhere Else on Earth:Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values



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Prepared or Environment Tasmaniaby Dr Karen Parsons o Aquenal Pty Ltd.

Report citation: Parsons, K. E. (2011) Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values.Report or Environment Tasmania. Aquenal, Tasmania.

ISBN: 978-0-646-56647-4

Graphic Design: onetonnegraphic www.onetonnegraphic.com.au

Online: Visit the Environment Tasmania website at: www.et.org.au orOcean Planet online at www.oceanplanet.org.au

Partners: With thanks to the The Wilderness Society Inc or their financial support through theWildCountry Small Grants Program, and to NRM North and NRM South.

Front Cover: Gorgonian an with diver (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins).

Environment Tasmania is a not-or-profit conservation council dedicated to the protection, conservation andrehabilitation o Tasmania’s natural environment. Australia’s youngest conservation council, Environment Tasmaniawas established in 2006 and is a peak body representing over 20 Tasmanian environment groups.



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Executive SummaryTasmania has a spectacular coastline and diversemarine environments which orm an integral part othe liestyle o many Tasmanians. Our coastal watersalso have extraordinary natural values that are o globalconservation significance on the basis o high biodiversity,unusually large numbers o unique species ound nowhere

else, and rare ecosystems within pristine underwaterwilderness areas that rival World Heritage listed lands.From magnificent Giant Kelp orests to ancient relicspecies, Critically Endangered fish, pristine seabird islands,commercially important fish nurseries, unique tannin-stained estuaries, luxuriant seagrass meadows, and amyriad o other productive habitats and rare species, oursmall island state is a hotspot or diverse marine lie ormsand important conservation values.

Yet the hidden nature o marine environments means thattheir outstanding values may not be widely appreciatedor understood, as reflected by the current protection

o just 2.6% o waters around Tasmania as opposed to40% o land environments. The purpose o this paper isto summarise what we know about Tasmania’s naturalmarine values, and to describe what makes our state,including the mainland coast, offshore islands andspectacular subantarctic Macquarie Island, totally unique.The location and physical attributes o the sea and seabedaround Tasmania make it unusual within national andinternational contexts, with this physical rarity matchedby a biological rarity within marine plant and animalcommunities. In particular, Tasmania possesses:

• A disproportionately long and highly complex coast,

with Tasmania accounting or only 0.9% o Australia’sarea and yet 8.2% o its coastline, and includingnumerous estuaries and embayments and more than6,000 islands and smaller rocky islets;

• Extreme variation in wave exposure due to a highlyindented coast, being the only state in Australiato experience waves rom every direction, andincorporating the only section o Australian coast lyingin the path o the Roaring 40s westerly winds;

• A very wide diversity o coastal landorms and

submarine topography, and a complex geology thatis exceptionally well exposed on the coast, includingthe oldest rock types in eastern Australia and a greatersimilarity to Antarctica than other parts o Australia;

• A high level o tidal variation due to the broad BassStrait shel and associated islands creating a largertidal range in the north than experienced around theshallower shel in the south;

• As a result o this complex coastline, rich geologyand variable wave exposure and tides, anexceptionally wide variety o marine ecosystemsthat are amongst the most diverse and productiveon earth, including estuaries, wetlands andsheltered lagoons, rocky headlands and rees, sandybeaches, mudflats, saltmarshes, seagrass beds andoffshore islands;

• A diverse range o oceanographic influences,with Tasmania located at the meeting point othree major oceanographic currents that resultin a unique mix o warm temperate through tosubantarctic species that is reflected throughout theood chain (i.e. phytoplankton through to seals andwhales); including the northern geographical limitsor species o subantarctic origin and the southern

limits or a range o warm temperate species;

Southern Sea Anemone (Phlyctenanthus australis) (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins).



5Nowhere Else on Earth: Tasmania’s Marine Natural Values

• Upwellings o cold, nutrient-rich subantarcticwater in the vicinity o Tasmania, which resultin higher nutrient levels than in more northernparts o Australia, and are key to: our high marineproductivity, the presence o a distinctive ‘cooltemperate’ assemblage, and the presence osubantarctic species that are absent or rare onmainland Australian shores and include some othe largest and astest growing marine plants inthe world;

•

A location within a temperate marine region thathas been geographically and climatically isolatedrom other temperate systems or around 65 million years, leading to levels o marine diversity and‘endemism’ (i.e. species unique to the region) thatare amongst the highest in the world;

• Unusual Gondwanan ‘relic’ species with ancientancestries, and some o the most highly restrictedmarine species in the world, including the first fishlisted as Endangered in Australia, one o the world’srarest skates, the only Australian fish recorded rom just one estuary, the only marine invertebrates listedas nationally Threatened, and a number o fish,

invertebrates and algae limited to only one or twoestuaries or sites;

• A significant portion o pristine marineenvironments, including the most extensiveundeveloped coastline in southeastern Australia, anunusually high percentage o undisturbed estuaries,and a large number o remote, pristine islands;many areas are globally rare by virtue o theirisolation and lack o pollution rom the land;

• Exceptionally wide diversity o estuarine habitattypes, due to a steep rainall gradient, which rangesrom 3000 mm per year in the southwest to 600 mmin the northeast, as well as the steep north-southtidal gradient and high geological diversity; all majorgeomorphological types o estuaries other thanfords are represented;

• A higher diversity and number o wetlands andinternationally important bird sites relative to itssize than any other Australian state, as well as thehighest densities in Australia o a number o residentand migratory species, and a unique location atthe most southerly extremity o the East Asian- Australasian Flyway or migratory shorebirds;

• A remarkable hotspot or seabird activity thatincludes the only nationally listed Critical Habitatsor marine species (albatross species), and

stronghold populations o Endangered seals;• A very large number o Threatened species, including

55 species listed within Tasmania or Australia(28 seabirds, six fish, five whales, our turtles, ourseals/sea lions, three seastars, two estuarine grasses,one shorebird, one mollusc and one alga), andadditional seabird, shorebird and fish species listedas globally Threatened; also, many rare species thatare likely to have highly restricted distributions orlow population numbers but have received littlestudy and hence are not ormally listed as beingThreatened by extinction.

As a result o the above unique attributes and diversityo marine assemblages, a large number o ‘bioregions’have been identified around Tasmania’s coast, eachwith distinctive physical and biological attributes. Thesebioregions contain an outstanding variety o ecosystems,some o which have particularly high natural values byvirtue o their rarity. Examples o these rare ecosystems, aswell as ‘stand out’ sites with high ecological values withineach bioregion, are provided to highlight some o theremarkable eatures worthy o consideration as the state’ssystem o Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) grows to meetinternational targets.

Low Head Shallows (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins).



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Table o Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................3

Executive Summary ...........................................................................4

1. The Wilderness Below…. .............................................7

2. Tasmania – Our Diverse Island State ..........................8

3. Tasmania’s Unique Ocean Influences ....................... 10

4. Key Features of Tasmania’s Marine Environment .... 12

4.1. Introduction to marine ecosystems… .....................12

4.2. The water column and open sea ..............................13

4.3. Rocky shores ................................................................. 15

4.4. Subtidal reefs ................................................................ 18

4.5. Unvegetated soft sediments......................................24

4.6. Seagrass beds ...............................................................26

4.7. Sandy beaches and dunes ..........................................31

4.8. Estuaries ........................................................................34

4.9. Intertidal mudflats .....................................................37

4.10. Saltmarshes and other coastal wetlands ...............38

4.11. Coastal islands .............................................................40

5. Tasmania’s Remarkable Marine Species ................... 43

5.1. Marine mammals and reptiles .................................44

5.1.1. Pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) ...............44

5.1.2. Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) ..........45

5.1.3. Turtles ......................................................46

5.2. Birds ...............................................................................46

5.2.1. Seabirds ....................................................475.2.2. Shorebirds ................................................48

5.3. Fish .................................................................................49

5.4. Invertebrates ................................................................51

5.5. Marine flora .................................................................55

5.5.1. Algae (seaweeds) .....................................55

5.5.2. Seagrasses ................................................57

6. Marine Bioregions – What Is Unique

About Your Part Of Tasmania? ..................................58

6.1. Boags Bioregion – seagrass haven ............................60

6.2. Otway Bioregion –waves and winter warmth ........................................65

6.3. Flinders Bioregion – clear water islands .................68

6.4. Twofold Shelf Bioregion –where three bioprovinces meet ................................72

6.5. Franklin Bioregion –

rugged, remote beaches .............................................75 6.6. Davey Bioregion –

pristine marine wilderness ........................................78

6.7. Bruny Bioregion –national endemics hotspot........................................83

6.8. Freycinet Bioregion -dazzling sapphire coast .............................................88

6.9. Macquarie Island Province –subantarctic wildlife jewel ........................................93

7. Conclusions ...............................................................95

8. References ...............................................................97




1. THE WILDERNESS BELOW…

Forest o Giant Kelp(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

A colourul garden o gorgonian corals (Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Surveys have revealed that the Tasmanian wilderness isnow the number one drawcard or visitors to the stateand is what people consider to be most special aboutTasmania. But when we think about ‘wilderness’, whatimages come to mind? For many people it will be majesticancient trees, jagged mountain ranges, and the beautiulcolours o alpine rockeries. These are indeed truly beautiuland uniquely Tasmanian. However did you know thatTasmania’s world class wilderness areas extend belowthe waterline as well? Our unique marine environmentis simply an extension o the environment above, with

over 25% o the area under Tasmania’s jurisdiction locatedbelow the high tide mark1.

The main difference between the images above and thoseo our towering Giant Kelp orests, majestic underwaterpinnacles, and colourul sponge gardens is that ewerpeople have experienced them first hand. This helps toexplain why 40% o the Tasmanian land environment isnow ormally reserved, whilst only 2.6% o the marineenvironment around Tasmania is afforded this protection.This alls well short o reserving the 20-30% o the marineenvironment needed to meet international commitments2.

Tasmania’s marine lie is extraordinary, including uniquespecies and communities ound nowhere else in Australiaor even the world, and including pristine habitatsrecognised to be o high global conservation significance.Yet the hidden nature o our marine environmentsmeans that their outstanding values may not be widelyappreciated or understood, and a lack o baselineinormation means that species approaching extinctionmay go totally unnoticed.

The purpose o this paper is to summarise what we doknow about Tasmania’s natural marine values, and toshowcase the remarkable and diverse marine lie in our

waters. It examines what makes Tasmania, includingthe mainland coast, offshore islands and spectacularsubantarctic Macquarie Island, ecologically unique. Thearea examined extends rom the high tide mark to the 3

nautical mile outer limit o Tasmania’s coastal waters,and also includes animals (e.g. seals and seabirds) thatrequently occur outside this area but rely completely onthe marine environment or ood.

The special qualities o Tasmania’s marine environmentare apparent at many scales; they are described here orthe state as a whole, within different types o ecosystemsthat are widely dispersed around Tasmania, or significantspecies that have high conservation values, and withingeographically distinct ‘bioregions’ that have been

identified on the basis o types o marine species present.Examples o rare ecosystems, as well as specific sites ohigh ecological value within each bioregion, are given toillustrate the outstanding diversity along our coast. Whilewe recognise the critical role o the marine environment inclimate regulation, sustained ood resources, filtration opollutants rom the land, and maintenance o biodiversity,our ability to manage these issues effectively withinTasmania relies on an increased understanding o ourmarine natural values and priorities or protecting theseinto the uture.



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2. TASMANIA –OUR DIVERSE ISLAND STATE

Bathurst Channel Estuary, south-west Tasmania (Photograph: © Jim England).

Tasmania’s coastal waters, which include internal waters and watersto 3 nautical miles seaward o the ‘Territorial Sea Baseline’ (TSB)3.

Tasmanian coastal waters cover a larger area than youmight initially think, extending 200 km north o ourmainland coast to nearly touch Wilsons Promontory inVictoria, and 1,500 km south to Macquarie Island, the onlysubantarctic island under state management in Australia.The first thing you will notice about Tasmania is that it hasan extraordinary amount o coastline relative to its size,accounting or only 0.9% o Australia’s area and yet 8.2%o its coastline3. This reflects not only our unique islandstatus but also the highly indented coastline o Tasmania,with large harbours and embayments, and many majorislands that together comprise more than 8,000 km ocoast. Tasmania includes a remarkable 374 islands greater

than 1 hectare in size and 6,163 islets smaller than 1hectare3. It also has a wide diversity o coastal landormsand submarine topography, and a complex geology thatis exceptionally well exposed and includes the oldest rocktypes in eastern Australia4. In addition, Tasmania differsrom the rest o Australia in having greater geologicalas well as biological similarity to Antarctica due to itssoutherly location and more recent land connection withthe Antarctic continent (45 million years ago5). Beingthe only state in Australia subject to waves rom everydirection, Tasmania experiences a wide range o waveexposures, rom the sheltered open or moderately exposed

coast in the north that shelves gradually into Bass Strait,to the narrower shel elsewhere that is sub-maximallyexposed in the east and maximally exposed in the westand south6.




Tasmania’s complex coastline and rich geology haveresulted in an exceptionally wide variety o marineecosystems that are amongst the most diverse on earthincluding estuaries, wetlands and sheltered lagoons,rocky headlands and rees, sandy beaches, mudflats,saltmarshes, seagrass beds and offshore islands7.These support an abundance o plant and animal lie,including a large number o organisms totally unique – or‘endemic’ – to this region due to the temperate marine

environment surrounding Tasmania being geographicallyand climatically isolated rom other temperate systems othe world or around 65 million years. Approximately 85%o fish species, 90% o echinoderm species (e.g. seastars,sea urchins) and 95% o mollusc species (e.g. sea snails,bivalves) in Tasmanian waters are endemic to the southernwaters o Australia8. Marine algae (i.e. seaweeds) areequally unique, displaying levels o diversity and endemismthat are amongst the highest in the world and producingmore luxuriant growth in Tasmania than anywhereelsewhere in Australia due to naturally high nutrient levelsand cool water temperatures9. Unlike tropical Australia,

where almost all marine species range widely throughoutthe Indo-Pacific region, species in Tasmania oten havevery localised distributions and small populations o veryhigh conservation value10. Some o these species are in actunusual ‘Gondwanan relics’, sharing their ancestry withplants and animals o other continents that were originallyconnected to Australia as part o the ancient Gondwananlandmass11. Another highly unusual eature o Tasmaniais the significant portion o pristine coastline, particularlyin the south west and Furneaux Group, which includesunique, undisturbed environments that are rare globally.

The high marine biodiversity o Tasmania is also areflection o its unique location at the meeting point othree major oceanographic currents, which collectivelybring together a mixture o warm nutrient poor watersrom the north and west, as well as cold nutrient rich

waters rom the south9. This results in an unusual mixingo subtropical, temperate and subantarctic species and hasalso contributed to our high levels o species endemism,since convergence zones can create steep environmentalgradients which orm an ecological barrier to dispersalo some species12. The overlapping ocean influences alsomean that Tasmania represents the northern geographicallimits or species o subantarctic origin, and at the sametime the southern limits or a range o warm temperatespecies. This applies to ully marine communities as wellas species that rely on our marine environment primarilyor ood; or example Tasmania is located at the most

southerly point o the East Asian-Australasian Flywayor migratory shorebirds13, whilst containing the mostnortherly location or many subantarctic marine mammalsand breeding albatross colonies. Added to our diverseoceanographic influences is tidal variation that includessmall ‘micro-tides’ in the south and larger ‘meso-tides’in Bass Strait14, producing a wide range o current flowand intertidal conditions. The close proximity o the steepcontinental slope and associated deep water in someparts o Tasmania15, is rare in Australia and results in thepresence o deepwater species usually not ound so closeto the coast.

Tasmanian marine environments are thereore uniquephysically and biologically, and contain extraordinarynatural values that have global conservation significanceon the basis o very high biodiversity, unusually largenumbers o endemic species, and rare ecosystems1.

Southern Basket Star (Conocladus australis) attached to sea whips(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Sweet Ceratosoma (Ceratosoma amoenum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Cluster o blue sponges(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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3. TASMANIA’S UNIQUEOCEAN INFLUENCES

Ocean currents have a dramatic affect on the types omarine plants and animals ound in Tasmanian waters,so it is worth taking a more detailed look at how theywork and the role they play in our marine diversity. AlongTasmania’s coast and in our estuaries, local variationin the strength and direction o water currents is bestdemonstrated by the tides. The strength and directiono tidal currents affects our recreational activities, orexample where we moor the boat to ensure it doesn’t getgrounded, when we go fishing to coincide with ‘runs’ ocertain fish, or when we go scuba diving to avoid strongcurrents and thereore overexertion. The effects o thetides and associated currents vary greatly around ourisland state, with the east, south and west coasts havingsmall ‘micro-tides’ which range only 0.6-1.4 m in height,whilst our north coast adjacent to Bass Strait has muchlarger meso-tides which can range as much as 4.4 m16.

However, at a much broader scale, massive ocean currentsoperate around Tasmania which dictate how warm ourwaters are, as well as how salty, how productive and whatmarine species they contain. Thus our fisheries and marinebiodiversity are totally dependent on these currents andthe variation they display in response to the climate.

Tasmania is located at the convergence o three majoroceanographic currents, resulting in the physical, chemicaland biological properties o our coastal waters beingtotally unique. The currents dominating Tasmania’s marineenvironment include the cool, nutrient-rich AntarcticCircumpolar Current which originates in the Southern

Ocean, and two warmer, nutrient-poor currents – the East Australian Current that originates in the Coral Sea and flowssouth to the Tasmanian east coast, and the Zeehan Current,which is derived rom the Leeuwin Current in Western Australia and moves along Tasmania’s west coast9,17. TheZeehan Current is at it’s strongest in winter 12, which meansthat waters around north western Tasmania including KingIsland are warmer in winter than elsewhere in Tasmania17.In contrast, the East Australian Current is strongest in latesummer 9,14, with our east coast thereore experiencing thewarmest water temperatures during summer months18. Thecontrasting currents operating around Tasmania contribute

significantly to the high marine biodiversity and the variableprevalence o subantarctic, warm and cool temperatespecies around the coast.

One o the keys to Tasmania’s unique marine lie and highlevels o productivity is the upwelling o cold, nutrient-rich subantarctic water which is carried northwardvia the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, a current alsodescribed as the Global Conveyor Belt and consideredto be the powerhouse or global climate18. As the coldwaters spread northward, they sink below the less dense,warmer and nutrient-poor upper layer in an area knownas the Subtropical Convergence9,17, providing a reservoir o

nutrient-rich water in the vicinity o Tasmania. As a result,Tasmanian waters are generally higher in nutrients andmore productive than northern regions o Australia andcan sustain Giant Kelp orests and other unique marine

communities that are absent or rare elsewhere9,17. TheSubropical Convergence zone is also important or manyfisheries around Tasmania, providing rich ood resourcesthat sustain populations o squid and fish.

The climate has a major influence on the oceanographiccurrents, leading to seasonal as well as annual variationin their strength and effects on the Tasmanian marineenvironment9. Tasmania has a temperate climate with amean sea surace temperature o 10-12 ̊ C in winter and18-20 ̊ C in summer 17, although water temperatures varysignificantly around the state due to the effects o theabove ocean currents.

Horseshoe Leatherjacket (Meuschenia hippocrepis)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Diatom bloom (Photograph: © Gustaa Hallegraeff).

Dinoflagellate (Noctiluca scintillans)(Photograph: © Anita Slotwinski, IMAS).




Seasonal influences include alternating periods o highand low pressure systems, the westerly wind belt o theSouthern Hemisphere, and El Niño and La Niña events,which are extreme phases o a naturally occurringclimate cycle known as El Niño - Southern Oscillation(ENSO)9. The system oscillates between El Niño and LaNiña conditions on average every 3-4 years, and Tasmaniais particularly sensitive to changes in atmospheric andoceanic circulation associated with these climatic events.

Significantly, the ENSO cycle affects the strength andposition o the East Australian Current and the latitude othe Subtropical Convergence9,17, thereby influencing thetemperature and productivity o Tasmanian waters.

Our ocean currents, as well as the climatic actorsthat affect them, play a major role in determining thedistribution, diversity, larval recruitment and compositiono marine species off Tasmania’s coast9,17. It all starts atthe base o the ood chain, with the distribution andproductivity o microscopic plants called phytoplanktonstrongly reflecting the locations o the major watermasses12. Phytoplankton provide ood or krill and

microscopic animals collectively known as zooplankton,and in turn these orm the diet o commercially andecologically important fish. Several Tasmanian fisheriesare based on species that eed at some stage in their liecycle on open-water plankton, such as the Southern RockLobster and Striped Trumpeter 9.

Fishes are in turn an important ood source or pelagicsharks, as well as seabirds and ur seals during the summerbreeding season, while krill are an important ood sourceor whales migrating along the south and east coasts oTasmania (e.g. Humpback Whales19). You can see thenthat variation in the positions o the water masses around

Tasmania leads not only to changes in phytoplanktonproductivity, but also to changes in abundances o all thespecies higher in the ood chain.

Marine species have varying temperature and salinitytolerances and hence their dispersal is directly linkedwith oceanographic currents. For example, increasingsoutherly penetration o the warm East AustralianCurrent9,20, a possible consequence o global warming,has resulted in the southerly movement o a wide rangeo warm-water loving plant and animal species and hencein significant changes to the structure o Tasmania’smarine communities7,18,21,22. Climatic events such as La

Niña may exacerbate this effect, pushing warm waterunusually ar down the Tasmanian east coast, resulting invery low nutrient levels, phytoplankton production andkrill production19. The Common Jack Mackerel (Trachurusdeclivis), a commercial species captured off Tasmaniathat eeds off krill, moves into deeper offshore watersat these times, resulting in poor fisheries catches23.This demonstrates the critical role o the oceans inthe composition and abundance o marine species,with Tasmania’s complex current systems providing aparticularly dynamic ocean environment.

The East Australian, Zeehan and Antarctic Circumpolar currents around the Tasmanian coast (Source: CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research).

Purple-streaked Jelly (Pelagia noctiluca)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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4. KEY FEATURES OF TASMANIA’SMARINE ENVIRONMENT

4.1. INTRODUCTION TO MARINE ECOSYSTEMS…

One o the most useul ways o describing our marineenvironments is through the identification o distinct

‘ecosystems’ that have particular physical characteristicsand associated biological communities. An ecosystem isa biological environment consisting o all the organismsliving in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving,physical components o the environment. Ecosystemsare unctional units in which organisms present aredependent on each other and on their environment, andhence disturbance to one species or one aspect o theenvironment affects all other species within it.

Tasmania has a remarkable diversity o marine ecosystems,rom rugged, wave exposed rees avouring unique coldwater species, to deep offshore habitats harbouring large

oceanic fishes; sheltered mudflats supporting numeroussmall invertebrates and shorebirds that eed on them;seagrass beds that provide nurseries and reugia or a hosto marine species; and estuaries where resh and marinewaters collide to provide a unique mix o reshwater,estuary-adapted and ully marine species. One o the keysto this diversity is the physical and geological complexityo our coast, with eatures such as seabed substrate,water depth, wave exposure, and water characteristics

(e.g. light penetration, turbidity, salinity, nutrient levels)all important in characterising ecosystems and theirassociated species and communities24. Further variationwithin ecosystems leads to a wide range o ‘habitats’in Tasmania, each characterised by specific physicalattributes and containing certain types o organisms, suchas a shallow sandy and deep silty habitats in the case osot unvegetated sediments.

Within each ecosystem, there are many ‘ecosystemprocesses’ occurring that create biodiversity and protectthe integrity o the natural environment. Examples includewater and nutrient flows, primary production o plantcommunities, trophic interactions between organisms ina ood chain, oceanography, tidal influences on estuarinesalinity, sedimentation, and catchment processes2.Ecosystems also perorm a number o ‘services’ whichprotect the quality and amenity o our environment, suchas water quality maintenance, nutrient cycling, deenceagainst sea level rise, waste processing and erosioncontrol. In order to sustain Tasmania’s amazing marinediversity, we need to protect important ecosystem services

as well as the network o ecosystem processes upon whichour ecologically and commercially significant speciesdepend. So or example, attempts to protect a fisheriesspecies may be in vain i they consider the biologicalcharacteristics (e.g. reproductive ecology) and stockstructure o the species, but neglect to consider the natureo its prey, predators and competitors, nursery habitat andassociated processes that combine to provide a healthyecosystem or the species to live in2.

The Common Jack Mackerel (Trachurus declivis) is an important pelagic species in Tasmania that displays distinct population responses to variation inoceanographic currents (Photograph: © Sue Wragge).




The sections below explore Tasmania’s amazing marineecosystems, including their unique environmentalattributes, biological communities, high conservationvalues and important ecosystem services and processes.Whilst not intended to provide a comprehensiveassessment o priorities or marine environmentalprotection, examples are given o particularly unique

types o ecosystems that contain rare physical conditionsand hence equally rare biological communities. All o ourecosystems contain important conservation values suchas Threatened species or significant nursery habitats; theabsence o ‘unique’ examples or some ecosystems belowsimply reflects the widely dispersed nature o values or alack o knowledge o the rare physical eatures associatedwith them.

4.2 THE WATER COLUMN AND OPEN SEA

By nature o being no more than 3 nm rom the coastline,Tasmania’s coastal waters have strong connections with

the adjacent land. However, our marine environmentsextend to maximum depths o around 200 m and are alsohome to a number o ‘pelagic’ species (i.e. o the open sea)that occur largely in offshore oceanic habitats. A uniqueattribute o Tasmania is that in some areas, the separationbetween the shallow nearshore and deep pelagic zonesis relatively narrow because o the close proximity o thecontinental shel and the presence o deep water near theshore15. The south eastern part o the Tasman Peninsulaprovides a prime example, and there are ew other placesin Australia where deep oceanic waters and fish speciesare so accessible rom the coast. The deeper regions areamongst the harshest o our marine environments, being

very cold, dark and subject to extreme pressure. In thisharsh environment, large fish and predatory sharks occurthat are rarely ound in shallow nearshore environments.In addition, there are many lie orms that occur in shallowwaters but spend their lie predominantly suspended inthe water column. The term ‘pelagic’ is thereore extendedin this section to include these species, since they are notassociated with specific benthic (i.e. seabed) habitats, suchas rocky rees or seagrass beds, and hence their values cansometimes be overlooked.

Communities o the pelagic zone comprise two maincategories, ‘plankton’ and ‘nekton’, according to

their locomotory capabilities. The plankton consistso microscopic animals (zooplankton) and plants(phytoplankton) that mostly drit with water currentsand tides, while more actively swimming animals such

as large invertebrates and adult fishes orm part o thenekton15. The microscopic phytoplankton are a majorsource o ood or other species and contribute a very largeportion o primary productivity in the marine environmentas well as playing a key role in carbon and nutrientcycling2. Phytoplankton communities in the southern Australia region including Tasmania are very diverse, withdescriptions o 541 known species recently compiled, andare dominated by diatoms and dinoflagellates25.

Zooplankton eed on phytoplankton and are a ascinatingand diverse group o animals that include the larval phaseso many larger animal species, such as fish, molluscs,lobsters and sea urchins, as well as microscopic animalspecies that are only ound in the plankton such ascopepods and cladocerans 26. Coastal Krill (Nyctiphanesaustralis) is a major component o the zooplanktoncommunity in Tasmanian coastal waters and is thedominant prey item or many fish, bird and other species19.Tasmanian phytoplankton and zooplankton communitiesinclude a unique mix o species due to local temperatecommunities mixing with tropical and subantarctic

species delivered by the major currents operating aroundour coast22,27.

The ‘nekton’, or active-swimming pelagic organisms, arepredominantly fishes and cephalopods (e.g. squid), butalso include marine mammals, penguins and crustaceans

(e.g. krill). These species play an important role in theood chain, acilitating the transer o energy romplankton through to sharks, seals and other animals atthe top o the ood chain2. Strong associations have beenidentified between upwellings o nutrient-rich subantarcticwaters, phytoplankton blooms, krill production and fishaggregations, demonstrating important linkages betweennutrients, phytoplankton and fisheries productivity23. Thenearshore pelagic zone o Tasmania tends to be dominatedin number and biomass by a ew small-medium fishspecies, such as the commercial Redbait and Common JackMackerel15, 23, 28. Further offshore, the pelagic environmentis home to a suite o large fish species and sharks such asBlue-eye Trevalla, Gemfish, Shortfin Mako, and SouthernBluefin Tuna, some o which are now identified asinternationally Threatened.

White water blooms o the calcareous phytoplankton speciesEmiliania huxleyi are regularly detected off northern Tasmania bysatellites. They are attracting increased global interest due to the roleo this peculiar and beautiul species in the ocean carbon system andclimate change22 (Photograph: © Gustaa Hallegraeff).

A swarm o small mysid crustaceans(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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Tasmania’s pelagic environment provides an importantmigration path or Threatened cetacean species includingthe Southern Right Whale and Humpback Whale, with thewhales oraging on Coastal Krill and other zooplanktonspecies during their migration through our coastalwaters19. In contrast the ‘Beaked whales’, such as the

Sperm Whale, Killer Whale, and dolphins, as well as avariety o seals, eed primarily on fish and squid. Tasmaniais a hotspot in Australia or seabirds, and supports around60 species that orage exclusively in pelagic environments,including many species at Macquarie Island and on oursouthern shores that are absent elsewhere in Australia.They have a varying diet that may include krill, fish orsquid, or a combination o these. The seabirds and sealsrepresent an important link between land-based breedinghabitats and pelagic oraging habitats, since both arecritical or their survival.

Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis) on migration(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

The majestic Southern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus maccoyi) reaches nearly

2 m in length and is an oceanic species encountered where the deepwaters o the continental slope occur close to the Tasmanian shore.This species is now classified as Critically Endangered at a global leveland as Conservation Dependent within Australia(Photograph: © Jon Bryan).

The Coastal Krill (Nyctiphanes australis: emale with egg sac (let); juvenile (right)) measures less than 2 cm when ully grown and yet represents oneo the largest ood resources in our coastal seas. Aggregating in massive swarms, it is a key prey species or many fish, seabirds, squid and whales,with fluctuations in its numbers dramatically affecting the abundance and distribution o its predators(Photographs: © Anita Slotwinski, IMAS).

Marine diatom ( Auliscus sp.)(Photograph: © Gustaa Hallegraeff).




4.3 ROCKY SHORES

Many Tasmanians have ond memories o ossicking in the

rocky intertidal zone as a young child and having their first

encounters with interesting marine creatures such as sea

squirts, small fish and shrimps. Our rocky shores provide a

highly accessible environment or seeing marine animals

and plants first hand, and hence provide an invaluable

learning environment without needing to get too wet...

Approximately 50% o the Tasmanian coastline is rocky29,

ranging widely rom steep sloping rock aces to relatively

flat or gently sloping rock platorms and boulder fields.

Intertidal rees are a prominent eature o our coast,

occurring mainly around headlands and oten being

separated by long stretches o sandy beach2. They support

a diverse mix o specialist plants and animals which have

adapted to the ever changing conditions o the intertidal

zone. Barnacles, tube worms, anemones, limpets, chitons,

bivalves and periwinkle species are dominant groups30,

however a vast array o additional lie-orms such as

sponges, seaweeds, crabs and shrimps, sea urchins and

sea stars, sea squirts, and fish are ound on our shores31.

Species can usually be ound in particular zones or bands

based on level o exposure to the air, as determined by

the tides, winds and waves18. Rock type and availability o

habitats such as rock pools and crevices are also importantinfluences on Tasmanian rocky intertidal communities30.

Complex rocky shoreline on Tasmania’s west coast(Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

Van Diemen’s Siphon Shell (Siphonaria diemenensis)(Photograph: © Karen Parsons).



16

Unique elements o Tasmania’s wave-washed rocky shorecommunities were initially overlooked by naturalistswho tended to ocus on sheltered habitats which provideprotection rom pounding waves and support ‘stragglers’rom warmer waters o Australia that do not survive on

the more open coasts31. However, investigation o theexposed coastline revealed that our intertidal communitiesare highly unique, including a distinct cool temperateassemblage o numerous algae, seastars, brittle stars, crabsand molluscs not ound on mainland Australian shores32.The south-east o the state is most differentiated; orexample it is home to three endemic seastar species oundnowhere else in the world, including one o the world’ssmallest species that has a reproductive biology highlyunusual amongst seastars33.

Broader differences are also evident, with algal andlichen bands more prouse and extending wider on theshore in Tasmania than in northern temperate waterso Australia23. Tasmanian intertidal rees support themost southerly populations o a number o intertidal

organisms, whilst subantarctic Macquarie Island isunique in having a contrasting community structure andlacking bands o barnacles and mussels that characterisetemperate shores34.

In addition to providing habitat or specialist intertidalspecies, rocky shores provide nursery habitats or fishspecies and oraging habitats or shorebirds at low tide2. InTasmania, they support internationally significant numberso Sooty Oystercatchers35, a shorebird that relies primarilyon intertidal rees and rocky headlands or oraging andbreeding habitat36.

A prominent member o the intertidal algal community, Neptune’sNecklace (Hormosira banksii)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Lined Chiton (Ischnochiton lineolatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Cape Queen Elizabeth on Bruny Island is the southmost known occurrence o the Giant Sur Barnacle ( Austromegabalanus nigrescens)30

(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




Colourul lichens at Haunted Bay, Maria Island on the east coast;bands o lichen are more prouse in Tasmania than in more northern

Australian waters (Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

Waratah Anemone ( Actinia tenebrosa)(Photograph: © Jane Elek).

Strapweed (Lessonia corrugata), a brown alga that is primarily limitedto Tasmania (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Our rocky shores are the national stronghold or the distinctive Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus), with an estimated 50% o its totalpopulation ound in Tasmania13. This shorebird uses its long bill to stab at prey or to lever, prise or hammer open ood items attached to rocks. It breedsin rocky areas above the tideline, within quick access to dinner on the shore! (Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Grey Periwinkle ( Afrolittorina praetermissa)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



18

4.4 SUBTIDAL REEFS

Subtidal rocky rees occupy large areas o the Tasmaniancoastline and are one o the most diverse and productivehabitats in our coastal waters18. Rocky ree structure canvary rom a simple flat ree made o consolidated bedrockor cobbles to complex rees with large boulders andcrevices, sheer vertical walls, cascading shelves o rock,canyons, and caves or arches carved out o the seafloor 2,18.

Communities o macroalgae (i.e. seaweed), rangingrom the towering Giant Kelp to low encrusting ormsare an important eature o rocky rees, with Tasmanianrees being more highly vegetated by macroalgae thanany other rees in Australian waters18. Our subtidal reeshave particularly high conservation value because alarge proportion o their fish, echinoderms, molluscsand macroalgae are totally unique or ‘endemic’ to thesouthern temperate region containing Tasmania8 andrepresent a globally significant hotspot or both diversityand endemism. Fauna groups containing ascidians,amphipods and bryozoans are also more diverse in thisregion than any other location o a similar size in the

world23. The unique rock ormations and high biodiversityo Tasmanian rocky rees combine to provide some o themost spectacular underwater scenery offered in Australia,including complex cave systems, dense kelp orests,and gardens o sponges, anemones, gorgonians and seawhips, the colour and diversity o which rival any tropicalcoral ree.

Crayweed (Phyllospora comosa)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Tethygeneia amphipods crowd onto a blade o algae; these smallcrustaceans achieve remarkable densities amongst algal beds(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Inflated Egg Urchin (Holopneustes inflatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Unique Subtidal Reef Ecosystem –Structurally Complex Reefs with

Unique Geology

The geology o our rocky rees plays a majorrole in their structural complexity and thereorealso provides us with some clues about whereto find biodiversity hotspots. Areas o diverse orparticularly complex rock types provide habitator a greater range o algae, fish and invertebratespecies. Similarly, rock types which are rare within aparticular biogeographic region result in an unusualmixture o climatic, oceanographic and seabedcharacteristics that lead to the ormation o rare

marine communities. In Tasmania, an example is theancient Precambrian rock that predominates on oursouth-west coast but outcrops at a small numbero north coast locations as quartzite schist. RockyCape is a prime example, consisting o highly oldedmetamorphic rocks that extend offshore and producesubmarine caves and crevices37. This type o habitatis rare in that region and hence supports a greaterdiversity o marine lie than more uniorm rocky reeson adjacent sections o the coast38. Other unusualand structurally complex rocky habitats includemassive submarine cave systems in Tasmania (e.g. Ile

des Phoques off the east coast, Waterall Bay on theTasman Peninsula) which can reach over 10 m highand 100 m long. These caves contain large colonies ocolourul sessile invertebrates (i.e. invertebrates thatare permanently attached, not ree-moving), such ascnidarians, bryozoans and zoanthids, as well uniquefish species that are specialised or cave lie15.




Shallow rees in Tasmania support a spectacular rangeo marine plants and animals that are a particularlyimportant because o their high diversity, biologicalcomplexity and productivity6,15. They differ greatly

rom rees in deeper waters due to high levels o lightpenetration, resulting in dense growth o macroalgae thatrequire light or photosynthesis. These areas may produceup to 10-20 kg o plant material per square metre, makingthem equivalent to the most productive habitats in theworld, including grasslands and seagrass beds2. Variationin ocean currents, wave exposure, relie, nutrient levels,siltation and prevalence o sea urchins and other grazersalso contribute to the highly variable species distributionand abundance o macroalgae in Tasmania39.

Tasmanian macroalgae communities are amongst themost diverse in the world and include a range o cold-water subantarctic species that are the largest seaweedsin Australia40 and are rare or absent north o Tasmania.

Examples include several dominant members o themacroalgal community, such as the Strapweed (Lessoniacorrugata), brown alga (Xiphophora gladiata), and theGiant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) that only orms denseorests south o Bass Strait23,37. A study underway hasidentified 35 macroalgal species in Tasmania that arecategorised as rare, including seven species never recordedoutside Tasmania that are dominated by unusual red algalspecies with highly restricted ranges41.

The Giant Kelp Shell (Phasianotrochus eximius) grazes on the suraceo a blade o algae (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The commercial Southern Rock Lobster ( Jasus edwardsii) is animportant ree inhabitant in Tasmania. Following the longest periodo larval development known or any marine creature (rock lobsterlarvae spend between 9 months to 2 years in oceanic waters),

juveniles settle to the rocky seabed, preerring crevices and otherprotected habitats (Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

The macroalgal canopy significantly reduces light penetration and thereore has an important influence on the types o communities ound on theseabed below (Photograph: © Sue Wragge).



20

In clear exposed waters, species such as Common Kelp(Ecklonia radiata) may extend to a depth o 45m42, howeverat sites with reduced wave exposure or light penetration,

kelps and other brown algae are limited to much shallowerwaters and quickly replaced at greater depth by smaller,delicate red algae tolerant o low light conditions15,37. As light becomes limiting even or the red algae, ree

communities transorm into deeper ‘sponge gardens’dominated by sessile filter eeding invertebrates such asbryozoans, ascidians, sponges, hydrozoans, gorgonians,anemones, tube worms, and sot corals15,42. Theseunderwater gardens are made up o delicate long-livedcreatures which play a vital role in the cycling o nutrientsand energy through filtering o tens to hundreds o litres owater per square metre o ree every day2.

Magpie Perch (Cheilodactylus nigripes)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

A school o Barber Perch (Caesioperca rasor )(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

The Yellow Zoanthid (Epizoanthus karenae) is one o the mostconspicuous animals on coastal rees and yet was only very recentlyormally described and named, reflecting our limited knowledge omany marine invertebrates. Zoanthids are colonial organisms relatedto the anemones; this species orms dense colonies on overhangsor in caves where it provides a spectacular carpet o colour(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Unique Subtidal Reef Ecosystem –High Current Reefs (e.g. ProtrudingHeadlands, Restricted Channels)

Particular physical eatures along Tasmania’s coastresult in unusually strong currents that have a majorinfluence on the marine communities ound on rockyrees. Protruding headlands, particularly those on thenorth coast and Bass Strait islands that experience

higher tidal ranges and current velocities than otherparts o the state (e.g. Rocky Cape), as well as narrowestuary entrances and other restricted channels, arecharacterised by modified and strengthened currentflows. These currents create a large ood resource inthe orm o driting particles, and hence result in theast growth o sponges and other sessile invertebratefilter eeding species which dominate the habitatat the expense o the usually dominant algae. Theseinvertebrates are typically limited to depths greaterthan 30 m37, but may orm incredibly colourul anddiverse communities at 15 m or less in high currentareas, providing a rare spectacle at accessible depths.

In addition, these areas may include large numberso pelagic and plankton-eeding fish that are usuallymore prominent in deeper waters. Where theseconditions are associated with deep rees, or actorsthat limit light penetration, such as inputs o dark-staining tannins (see Section 4.8), sponge gardensare particularly well developed and contain manyunusual and rare species. The high current ree areasdenote restricted habitats that have rare physicalattributes and equally rare biological communities38.

Colourul sponge gardens may occur in much shallower depths

than typical where strong currents result vast amounts osuspended ood and hence ast growth o sponges and other filtereeding invertebrates (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




Macroalgae provide habitat or a range o invertebrate andfish species, and in Tasmania are structurally complex,orming five layers ranging rom dense kelp ronds floatingon the surace (e.g. Giant Kelp) to encrusting corallinealgae attached to the seabed. Animals thriving amongstthe algae include small crustaceans called amphipods thatcan reach numbers o 50,000 per square metre, with over50 species occurring on a single tuted plant23. Below thealgal canopy, sessile invertebrates include sponges, corals,bryozoans, hydroids and ascidians, while mobile aunasuch as gastropods, crustaceans, echinoderms and fishesare abundant. Some o these are important ecologically

and or fisheries such as Blacklip and Greenlip Abalone,Southern Rock Lobster, and ree fishes including wrasses,morwongs and trumpeter.

Additional common elements o the Tasmanian reefish auna include weedfishes, threefins, sweeps andleatherjackets15, while the Red Handfish and Ziebell’sHandfish provide examples o highly restricted endemicspecies. The Purple Urchin (Heliocidaris erythrogramma)is one o the most widely distributed invertebrates inTasmanian waters, although the Hollow-spined Urchin(Centrostephanus rodgersii) rom the mainland east Australian coast has recently expanded its range, leading

to overgrazing on rees o the Tasmanian east coast, andtriggering a shit rom dense macroalgal beds to sea urchin‘barrens’ in some areas20,43.

This has affected the density o commercially fishedabalone and rock lobster 20, highlighting importantinteractions between ree species, such as macroalgae,urchins, abalone and lobsters. Statewide surveys haveidentified a wide range o biogeographic influences onree communities, resulting in highly variable algae,

fish and invertebrate species composition around thestate. This inormation has been a primary considerationor assigning marine bioregions to distinctive areas oTasmania’s coastline (see Section 6).

Warty Prowfish ( Aetapcus maculatus): this unusual fish occurs onsheltered and moderately exposed rees and can be very difficultto detect in its natural habitat since it looks much like the spongesamong which it requently lives! (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Zimmer’s Sea Fan (Mopsella zimmeri): this beautiul animal is a gorgonian, a type o coral readily recognised by its rigid, plant-like shape andconsisting o a colony o small living polyps. It thrives on high current rees and includes a number o colour orms, dominated by yellows, orangesand reds (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



22

eat

only largerlobsters caneat urchins

(also helping toreduce loss of algae)

larger lobstersalso eat...

urchins macroalgae

less macroalgae

Rock Lobster / Abalone / Urchin Interaction

Examples of relationships amongst reef organisms, such as the Hollow-spined Urchin, macroalgae,abalone species and Southern Rock Lobster. Factors that affect numbers of any one of these will

ultimately affect other important reef species

whichresults in...

which in turnresults in...

less shelter and fewer invertebrate prey for

rock lobsters

less shelter and drift

algae food for abalone

A summary o relationships amongst some important ree organisms (Illustration: Nathanael Jeanneret o onetonnegraphic).




Giant Kelp Habitats

canopy

holdfasts

drift / algal wrack

seabed



24

4.5 UNVEGETATED SOFT SEDIMENTS

Unvegetated areas o sot sediments including sand,mud and unconsolidated substrates containing pebblesand shells, are the dominant eature o subtidal marineenvironments in Tasmania, comprising around 75% othe seabed in nearshore areas7. Sot sediments occur inestuaries and embayments as well as along the opencoast where they are requently associated with beachenvironments in the intertidal zone. The apparently barrenappearance o these areas is deceptive and hides a diversityo lie44, as well as important nursery habitats and rarespecies limited to Tasmanian waters45,46. There are ew

places to hide, so many species living on sand and mudhave developed special mechanisms or protection, suchas camouflage or being adept at quickly burrowing intothe sediment44.

Unique Subtidal Reef Ecosystem – Deep Reefs Close to Shore

Along the majority o Tasmania’s coast, rocky outcrops extend to approximately 15 m below the waterline and aresubsequently replaced at greater depths by beds o sot sediment. However, some sites include rees that extendinto much deeper waters within close proximity to shore, providing more extensive and diverse ree communitiesextending to 50 m or even up to 100 m depth. They illustrate the ull spectrum o subtidal ree zonation, with brownkelps dominating in shallow waters, low-light tolerant red algae becoming more prevalent at moderate depths, and

colourul sessile invertebrates dominating at greatest depths. These rees contain unique populations o speciesusually only observed much urther offshore rom the Tasmanian coast, as well as extensive areas o sponges,gorgonians, sot corals, sea whips, and associated invertebrates that are rare on shallower Tasmanian rees. Some sitesare easily accessible to SCUBA divers, who can experience the marine lie o clear oceanic waters within 100 m o theshore (e.g. Governor Island, east coast). Some rees extend into areas beyond sae diving depths and remain largely amystery despite being located so close to our coast (e.g. mouth o Tamar Estuary, north coast), emphasising the needto study these areas using underwater video and other remote methods to ensure that their values are identified andappropriately managed to prevent impacts rom adjacent land activities.

An assorted range o fish and invertebrates take turns at being ‘invisible’: (a) Spotted Flounder ( Ammotretis lituratus), (b) Girdled Goby (Nesogobiusmaccullochi), (c) Southern Sand Flathead (Platycephalus bassensis), (d) Spider crab (Halicarcinus sp.), (e) Southern Dumpling Squid (Euprymnatasmanica), and () Kinberg’s Brittle Star (Ophiura kinbergi). Camouflage is an important strategy or avoiding predators in sot sediment habitats, andis utilised by a wide range o species in Tasmanian waters (Photographs: © Graham Edgar).

A.

B.

C.

D. E.

F.




These sediments generally have a lower productivitythan seagrass and macroalgal beds due to the absenceo large photosynthesising plants, however they areoten rich in small invertebrates that live on microscopicalgae, bacteria and ood particles in the passing water 44.

These in turn provide ood or larger surace dwelling (i.e.‘epibenthic’) and burrowing (i.e. ‘benthic’) invertebrates,which in Tasmanian waters are dominated by crustaceans,polychaete worms, and gastropod and bivalve molluscs14,47.The only marine mollusc species that is listed asThreatened in Tasmania, the Gunn’s Screw Shell (Gazameda

gunnii), occupies subtidal sandy sediments. These sandyhabitats also support a particularly diverse molluscassemblage including hundreds o beautiul species thatare smaller than a match head44, as well as rare volutespecies that orm part o a relic auna17. In deeper areasand strong currents, sessile invertebrates may ormspectacular aggregations similar to the ‘sponge gardens’

observed on rees, using shells and cobbles or attachmentrather than bedrock or boulders.

Unvegetated habitats are becoming increasinglyrecognised as an important habitat or juvenile fishes inTasmania. In act, unvegetated areas are believed to bemore important than vegetated sediments as nurseries or juveniles o commercial finfish species, including Yellow-eye Mullet, Eastern Australian Salmon and GreenbackFlounder 45. Similarly, juvenile Sand Flathead show apreerence or unvegetated habitats, and spawning oSea Garfish is concentrated over shallow unvegetatedareas. Trawling over open sandy habitats in depths o

10-100 m around Tasmania has identified 16 commercialfish species, as well as many additional non-commercialspecies including gurnards, cowfish, globefish, skates and

rays. A trend o increasing fish size with depth suggeststhat shallow coastal waters are significant nursery areasor many species49. The Gummy Shark also appears toutilise shallow areas o sot sediment or pupping,since newborns are ound in these habitats and thereis little evidence o them using adjacent seagrass bedsas nurseries50,51.

Sot sediment habitats are also home to some oTasmania’s most cryptic and unusual fish species. TheEndangered Maugean Skate ( Zearaja maugeana), which is

limited to two estuaries in south-west Tasmania, lives inshallow sot sediment habitats where it is believed to eedon burrowing invertebrates. In addition, a new specieso sand fish belonging to the genus Lesueurina (FamilyLeptoscopidae) has been identified that is currently onlyknown rom shallow sandy habitats on the south coasto Tasmania. These two species may be just the tip o theiceberg in terms o new endemic species identified romour coastal waters52. Cryptic fishes such as pipefishes,which are protected in Australia and related to seahorsesand the Weedy Seadragon, survive in sot sediment areasby hiding amongst drit algae and seagrass15.

Unique Un-vegetated Soft SedimentEcosystem – High Current Channels

Sessile invertebrates need a hard substrate orattachment and thereore commonly occur on reehabitats, however they also orm aggregations in sot

sediment habitats where there is adequate debris,such as shell material and pebbles, or attachment.Narrow sandy channels and other areas dominatedby strong currents create suitable conditions, sincethe rapidly moving water provides a constantsupply o suspended ood particles that enable rapidgrowth o filter eeding invertebrates. It is a careulbalance in this situation – since the currents needto be adequate to supply a high volume o oodwhilst being insufficient to scour the seabed andremove shells and other loose material requiredor attachment. These sessile communities, whichinclude sponges, seawhips, anemones, tube worms,

bryozoans, hydroids and a high diversity o additionalcolourul and delicate orms, occur in narrowestuarine channels as well as open marine habitatsaround Tasmania (e.g. D’Entrecasteaux Channel andentrance to Pittwater, in southern Tasmania37,48).However, persistent and diverse assemblages o anysignificant size have restricted distributions andthereore high conservation value and, as with highcurrent rees, are best developed where unusuallydeep habitats occur close to shore or additionalactors urther reduce light penetration (e.g. tannininputs; Section 4.8).

Other animals are brightly coloured and utilise alternative deencestrategies, such as this Cocky Gurnard (epidotrigla modesta) (top)which has multiple sets o long spines, and Rasping Hermit Crabs(Strigopagurus strigimanus) (bottom) which are able to readily retreatinto their heavily ortified homes (Photographs: Gurnard – © GrahamEdgar, Hermit crabs – © Sue Wragge).



26

4.6 SEAGRASS BEDS

Tasmania’s seagrasses include a wide range o orms, and each species may harbour a unique range o fish and invertebrates, creating a particularlyhigh diversity o lie in areas containing multiple seagrass species. Displayed here is the Southern Paddlegrass (Halophila australis).(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Seagrasses are flowering plants that produce flowers andseeds like plants on land, but occur on sot sedimentsin sheltered estuarine and marine environments53. Theymay orm sparse patches through to extensive dense‘meadows’ and, like shallow subtidal rees, represent oneo the most productive ecosystems on earth, providingimportant reuges, breeding habitat and eeding groundsor fish and invertebrates54. They also provide habitat orepiphytic algae (i.e. small algae that grow on the seagrass),are important or nutrient cycling and trophic pathways,and enhance water clarity as well as reduce coastal erosionthrough stabilisation o sediments17,45. The southern

temperate waters o Australia are the centre o diversity orseagrasses because out o 60 seagrass species worldwide,one third o these occur in this region, and at least 14species occur nowhere else23. Our small island statecontains seven marine species o seagrass, representingaround 10% o species in the world, as well as threeadditional aquatic Ruppia species that provide a similarlyproductive habitat in estuaries and lagoons.

Recent mapping has revealed 190 km2 o seagrass bedsaround Tasmania55, excluding the two most extensiveareas, in the Furneaux Group and Boullanger Bay in thenorth-west, that are yet to be mapped in detail but have

previously been estimated to contain 400-500 km2 oseagrass45. While this may sound a lot, even based onhighly conservative estimates seagrass occupies less than3% o Tasmania’s coastal waters due to its dependence on

light or photosynthesis and hence confinement to shallowwaters generally less than 15 m. Seagrass beds thereorerepresent a relatively rare ecosystem that accounts or adisproportionately large percentage o marine primaryproduction and biodiversity.

Tasmania possesses a unique mixture o warm and cooltemperate seagrass species, with the warm-water lovingstrapweeds (Southern Strapweed Posidonia australis andFibrous Strapweed Posidonia angustifolia) occurring at thevery southern boundary o their environmental tolerancesin Tasmania and being limited to the north coast and Bass

Strait islands. In those areas, the Southern Strapweedorms extensive and luxurious beds which are, alongwith beds o another north coast dominant – Sea Nymph( Amphibolis Antarctica), important or coastal productivity.The Fibrous Strapweed has a restricted distribution andappears to be confined to the north-west56 and FurneauxIslands45. This species represents a rare and unusualoccurrence in a biogeographic sense, since it is absentrom Victoria and NSW, with the nearest populationslocated 600 km to the west in South Australia.

The Southern Paddlegrass (Halophila australis) andeelgrasses (Tasmanian Eelgrass Heterozostera tasmanica,

Black-stemmed Eelgrass Heterozostera nigricaulis andintertidal Mueller’s Eelgrass Zostera capricorni) are morewidespread in Tasmania, with the cool-water lovingTasmanian Eelgrass unique to Tasmania and Victoria.




While the Tasmanian seagrasses have distinctenvironmental preerences on the basis o salinity,sediment grain size, depth and level o wave exposure54,their overlapping ranges mean that some sites supportbeds o up to five seagrass species within a very small areaeither as distinct bands or as intermixed populations58. Thisdiversity o seagrass habitats results in high animal speciesrichness, since different seagrass species support uniqueassemblages o fishes45. Research has ound that seagrassbeds support a higher diversity o fish than unvegetatedareas as well as higher levels o invertebrate and fish

production59

. They provide important habitat or manyprotected species o high conservation significance, suchas pipefishes and seahorses. In the intertidal zone, beds oMueller’s Eelgrass provide eeding grounds or resident andmigratory shorebirds as well as small fish that disperse toshallow habitats during high tides.

Seagrass beds are utilised by many fish species ocommercial and recreational importance, althoughresearch suggests that their role as nursery habitat inTasmania is o primary significance or small residentfishes rather than economically important scalefishspecies45. Nevertheless, our seagrass beds provide critical

habitat or other species fished commercially andrecreationally in Tasmania, such as the Southern Calamary(or ‘squid’, Sepioteuthis australis) which lays its eggs almostexclusively on beds o Sea Nymph60.

Seagrass beds o Great Oyster Bay and Mercury Passagecomprise the main spawning areas o this species inTasmania, with the seagrass beds o Great Oyster Bayidentified as being particularly important. Surveys in one year using specialised ‘fingerprinting’ techniques identifiedthat between 55% and 84% o calamary in south-easternTasmania – to as ar south as Bruny Island - had beenborn in Great Oyster Bay61. This demonstrates the strong

links between seagrass habitats and fisheries productivity,and how impacts on seagrass beds in a distant part oTasmania may have important implications or the successo your fishing trip!

Some small invertebrate species, such as this Wavy Kelp Shell(Phasianotropchus rutilus) (top) live on the blades o seagrassplants, whilst larger invertebrates and fish including the RoughLeatherjacket (Scobinichthys granulatus) (centre) and the GiantCuttlefish (Sepia apama) (bottom) seek reuge and ood amongstthe dense vegetation o seagrass meadows(Photographs: © Graham Edgar).

Dense meadow o the Southern Strapweed (Posidonia australis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Hooded Plovers (Thinornis rubricollis) eeding amongst seagrasswrack (Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler,Birds Tasmania).



28

Unique Seagrass Ecosystem –Large and Persistent Seagrass Beds

Seagrass beds distributed around Tasmania’s coastvary in structure rom dense meadows to denseor sparse patches, while some seagrass beds aredescribed as ‘ephemeral’ meaning that they ‘comeand go’ and exhibit seasonal die-back. Eelgrassesare examples o ephemeral species57, and tendto recover rapidly ollowing unsuitable seasonalconditions or temporary environmental disturbances.In contrast the strapweeds and Sea Nymph areexamples o persistent, long lived species that

remain intact throughout the year and are extremelyslow to recover rom environmental disturbances.These long-lived species, particularly the SouthernStrapweed, orm large, dense seagrass meadows onTasmania’s north coast and in the Furneaux Group,while Sea Nymph is also important on parts o theeast coast. The size, long-lived nature, vulnerabilityto disturbance, and geographically restricted natureo beds dominated by these persistent species inTasmania denotes a particularly high natural value.The northern areas o Tasmania also orm themajority o the habitat or the Tasmanian Eelgrass, a

species with a highly limited distribution in Australia,adding to the biodiversity value o seagrass beds inthis region.

Unique Seagrass Ecosystem –Unusually Deep Seagrass Beds

In some areas o Tasmania, due to exceptional waterclarity, the distribution o seagrass beds extends toconsiderably greater depths than typically recordedelsewhere in Tasmania or mainland Australia. Along most areas o the coast, seagrass beds areconcentrated in depths less than 10-15 m, particularlyin areas that are affected by catchment inputs andhence reduced water clarity. However, in very clearconditions in northern Tasmanian waters, extensivebeds o seagrass may occur to much greater depths.

The Furneaux Islands and Kent Group in Bass Straitprovide good examples o this, where single speciesstands o the Southern Strapweed or a mixtureo this species and the Tasmanian Eelgrass havebeen recorded to depths o 20 m or more, whilstmonitoring at the Kent Group has revealed sparsepatches o the Southern Paddlegrass to at least 40m64. This is very unusual and reflects highly restrictedcommunities at those depths65. Other relatively deepseagrass beds have also been recorded at WaterhousePoint on the adjacent mainland Tasmanian coast66,highlighting again the high value o our northern

seagrass communities.

Another sea snail that requently grazes on seagrass blades is the beautiul Rainbow Kelp Shell (or ‘Green Maireener’,Phasianotrochus irisodontes)used or necklace making by Tasmanian Aborigines (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




The Importance of Nursery Habitats

juvenile calamary fully grown calamarymature calamary layingeggs in seagrass beds

calamary eggs attachedto seagrass

Research indicates

that Great Oster Baymay be the birthplacefor more than half of theSouthern Calamary foundin more southern areas

of Tasmania.

One relatively smallarea seeds a number

of calamary populationson the east coast.

SeedPopulation

ArrowsIndicate

Dispersal of JuvenileSouthernCalamary

One relatively smallarea seeds a number

of calamary populationson the east coast.

The importance o Great Oyster Bay or Southern Calamary abundance throughout south-east Tasmania(Photographs: adults - © Gretta Pecl, IMAS; juveniles - © Caroline Fisher Photography; eggs - © Natalie Moltschaniwskyj, University o Newcastle).



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FEATURE: A unique insight into the world ofthe Southern Calamary (Sepioteuthis australis )

(Including extracts from an unpublished paper ‘Southern Calamary in Great Oyster Bay’ by Dr Gretta Pecl)

The Southern Calamary is a ‘squid’ – the term calamary is used to describe a group that contains both squid and

cuttlefishes. In Tasmania waters, we have both the smallest squid in the world, the pygmy squid at a tiny 2 cm,

and the largest squid – the giant squid,which could produce squid rings as big

as truck tyres62! The Southern Calamary

alls between these two size extremesand lives ‘lie-in-the-ast-lane’, being ast

growing, short-lived (<1 year), and moving

at lightening speeds – in act it is oneo the astest moving squid species in

the world63! The juveniles hatch directly

rom eggs laid on the seagrass and areimmediately able to unction as adept

‘miniature adults’, capable o inking,

changing colour, hunting and avoidingpredators60.

Squid communicate with each other

through changes in body colour

patterns and posture; they do this withthe help o pigment-filled sacs called

‘chromatophores’ on their skin that

enable them to change the patternson their body in a millisecond – more rapidly than a chameleon can62! The sexes are separate

and although courtship and mating is behaviourally complex and can last or hours, the transer o sperm rom the

male to the emale takes less than 2 seconds60. The male rapidly passes a packet o sperm to the emale, at the same

time adopting a colour display that has been nicknamed ‘the postman’ because it shows that a package has beensuccessully delivered62!

Some o the most ascinating aspects o calamary reproductive behaviour highlight the unique way that squids

communicate with each other, and demonstrate that they can have two conversations at once (even the male squid) 62! A common example involves the intense male competition or emales on the spawning grounds. I an amorous male

is swimming alongside a emale he can say one thing to her with one side o his body (“How about it beautiul?”),

and send a different message at the same time withthe other side o his body to any other single males

hanging around (“Back off buddy!”). The emale squid

may respond with several signals rom “I wouldn’t

mate with you i you were the last squid on earth” to“sure honey”62. To avoid male-male aggression, some

single males resort to rather sneaky tactics to secure

a mate. These males, aptly called ‘sneaker males’,sometimes show the body patterns o emales, so

that the paired male thinks the intruder is a emale

and thereore nothing to worry about. However,such tactics have their downside as ‘sneaker males’

oten attract unwanted attention rom other single

males62! Such complex behaviours showcase the

personality and uniqueness o our marine lie andmay help to oster a whole new appreciation o

species such as the humble squid…

Young Southern Calamary(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Southern Calamary mating(Photograph: © Gretta Pecl, IMAS).




4.7 S ANDY BEACHES AND DUNES

Tasmania has over 1,600 sandy beaches, including 1,269recorded on the mainland and 348 on our major islands16,which occupy approximately 36% o our coastline29.These are major areas or coastal recreation and providespectacular scenery, with several Tasmanian beaches votedas amongst the most beautiul in the world. They alsoprovide physically and biologically diverse environments,with Tasmania having a wide range o beach types due to

our diverse geology and highly variable ocean and waveconditions. Being an island that receives waves romevery direction, has a highly convoluted coastline, andexperiences variable micro- to meso- tidal ranges, it is nosurprise that Tasmania includes the ull spectrum o highthrough to low energy beaches16. Beaches range romsheltered gently sloping shores in the south-east, to thesteep, semi-exposed granite sand beaches o the north-eastand maximally exposed beaches o the west coast67 thathave recorded some o the biggest waves in the world23.

While we tend to think o a ‘beach’ as solely the partthat is visible to us and provides suitable habitat orbeach cricket and building sand castles (!), beachestechnically extend rom the upper limit o wave swash ~3 m above the high tide mark, and seaward to the depthat which average waves can move sediment shoreward16.Based on this definition, some o our beaches on thehigh wave energy west coast are the widest in theworld, extending as ar as several kilometres offshore16 and having massive sur zones up to 500 m wide23.These maximally exposed beaches are categorised as‘dissipative’ beaches, since they are protected by offshorebanks that act to dissipate, or reduce, the energy o thewaves. This beach type is common along Tasmania’s

west coast but comparatively rare elsewhere in Australia,and is known to support a higher diversity o burrowingauna than other beach types23.

Shell detail: beaches may be littered with pebbles, shells or algal debriswhich alters the beach environment and hence the types o animalsound there (Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

A ‘dissipative’ beach protected by oshore banks that act to reducethe energy o the waves; a common beach type along Tasmania’swest coast but comparatively rare elsewhere in Australia(Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

Level o wave action is one o the major determinants o sandy beach communities, with Tasmania’s diverse coastline including highly shelteredbeaches through to maximally exposed areas experiencing Australia’s biggest waves (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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Beaches occupy a dynamic position between sea and land,and include both marine and terrestrial species that areadapted to highly unstable conditions, including variableexposure to wave action and seawater inundation, erosion,

drying by the sun, extremes o temperature and rainall

67

.Like other unvegetated sot sediment ecosystems, beacheshave a low primary productivity and can appear barrenat first glance, however microscopic algae, tiny animalscollectively known as ‘meioauna’ (i.e. < 1 mm, just visibleto the naked eye) and decomposing algal matter providethe basis or a ood chain that supports a diverse rangeo lie. The lower shore is dominated by many species oburrowing worms, molluscs, and small crustaceans calledamphipods, while the upper shore is home to a range o

insects and air-breathing crustaceans including crabs,sandhoppers and isopods (slaters). This upper ‘strandline’zone is biologically unique in Tasmania and includes a hosto undescribed animals and endemic sandhopper species

with highly restricted distributions

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. The invertebrates othe lower shore are a major source o ood or fish suchas flathead, flounder, whiting and sandfishes – includingspecies totally unique to Tasmania68, many o which haveadapted to lie in the sur zone through burying in thesand15. While beaches generally lack attached macroalgae,a rare phenomenon occurring at a small number oTasmanian locations is the prolieration o red filamentousalgae within recirculating cells o the sur zone, whichturns the sea a deep red colour 23.

Bivalve molluscs are a particularly important component o animal communities o sandy beaches and vary in their preerence or wave exposure.For example, the Elongate Sur Clam (Paphies elongata) (let) is a dominant member o sur beach communities, while the Fine Tawera (Taweralagopus) (centre) preers more sheltered ocean beaches, and the Thin-ribbed Cockle (Fulvia tenuicostata) (right) occurs on sheltered sands and muds(Photographs: © Graham Edgar).

Sparsely-spotted Stingaree (Urolophus paucimaculatus) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




Coastal dunes are also important environments inTasmania and are well distributed around our coast. Bothdunes and beaches provide critical oraging and breedinghabitats or shorebirds and seabirds, including a range oThreatened and migratory species o high conservationsignificance. Tasmanian beaches support internationallysignificant numbers (1% or higher o total globalpopulation) o the resident Hooded Plover, a true oceanbeach ‘specialist’ which orages and nests on beaches.The low density and small total population size o this

species means that even beaches with just a ew breedingpairs are o considerable conservation importance69. TheVulnerable Fairy Tern, Endangered Little Tern, and the PiedOystercatcher categorised as a conservation concern inTasmania13, also nest on Tasmanian beaches and nearbydunes. Internationally significant numbers o migratoryspecies also occur in these environments, including theRuddy Turnstone70 which orages amongst rocks and algaeon beaches, and the Short-tailed Shearwater or Muttonbirdwhich breeds largely in stabilised dune soils and creates anamazing spectacle as millions o birds return to Tasmaniaeach year around 20th September 36. Tasmania is alsothe Australian stronghold or the Little Penguin, whichlands on sandy beaches and other habitats on its way toneighbouring breeding sites located in coastal grasslandsand herbfields36.

Like other marine ecosystems, Tasmanian beaches anddunes perorm important services that contribute tothe health and stability o our waterways and marineenvironments. Beaches have an important role in cyclingnutrients between coastal and nearshore environments,with high energy south and west coast beaches housinga particularly high diversity and density o organisms andexporting nutrients to the ocean16. Dunes are an importantnatural sea deence in low-lying areas, protecting estuariesand wetlands rom storm surge flooding and erosion,with this role made possible by important communities ostabilising coastal vegetation2.

Beach and dune in background at Crescent Beach,Tasman Peninsula (Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

A Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis) and nest containing eggs.Shorebird nests are generally simple constructions being a shallowscrape or depression on the ground usually with little or no nestingmaterial, and are oten situated just above the high tide mark oron raised banks or dunes. Eggs are well camouflaged and nestsare invariably in the open enabling parent birds ull view o thesurroundings and any approaching threats. Some species such asthe Hooded Plover and Pied Oystercatcher require a territory (or‘exclusive zone’) o several hundred metres, which they will deendby driving out other birds or potential threats, and may remainaithul to the same site year ater year. In contrast, the terns nestcolonially and combine orces to drive off natural predators, withnests oten being only a ew metres apart13 (Photographs: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Short-tailed Shearwater (or ‘Muttonbird’, Puffinus tenuirostris)rookery: individual rookeries can be as large as nearly 6 million birds.This species provides a classic example o synchronised breeding,with the birds returning each year to the same burrow on thesame day, with egg laying, chick hatching and juvenile fledging alsooccurring on predicable dates year ater year 36

(Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).



34

4.8 ESTUARIES

Estuaries are the lieblood o many Tasmanian towns andcities and lie at the interace o marine, reshwater, andterrestrial systems, receiving reshwater drainage romrivers and streams as well as tidal seawater rom theocean. With 84% o Tasmanians living within estuarinecatchments, the way we manage our terrestrial and riverenvironments has a major bearing on estuarine quality. A total o 113 estuaries covering an area o approximately

111,000 ha occur around Tasmania and associated BassStrait Islands, each possessing unique environmentaland biological characteristics that vary with shape, size,aspect, topography, and degree o tidal flows, as well ascatchment attributes such as rainall and runoff, rockand soil type, erosion, vegetation cover and humanactivities14,71. Tasmania has an exceptionally wide diversityo estuarine habitat types, due to a steep rainall gradient,which ranges rom 3000 mm per year in the southwestto 600 mm in the northeast, a steep meso-tidal to micro-tidal north-south gradient (see Section 3), and a greatgeological diversity, including dolerite, granite, acidvolcanics, sandstone, quartzite, basalt, limestone and

dolomite. Potential evaporation in Tasmania is the lowestin Australia, and all major geomorphological types oestuaries other than fords are represented14, with someproviding spectacular landscapes that have high aestheticas well as environmental value. Tasmania is also unusualin a global sense in possessing many estuaries withlittle human influence; remarkably, 37 o our estuarinecatchments (33% o the total statewide) have beenidentified as ‘pristine’14.

Habitat diversity in estuaries occurs vertically in the watercolumn as well as between areas o different tidal exposureand seabed substrate. When reshwater meets seawater,layering (or ‘stratification’) requently occurs becauselighter reshwater floats above the dense seawater 72,creating variable conditions within the water column14.

An example o a barrier estuary at Southport Lagoon, with large sandbanks that are constantly changing in size and position in responseto storm events, tides and riverine flooding(Photograph: © Adam Davey).

The Spotted Shore Crab (Paragrapsus gaimardii) is a commoninhabitant o Tasmania’s estuaries (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Shaw’s Cowfish ( Arcana aurita) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




At the same time, Tasmanian estuaries contain a mixtureo beaches, rocky oreshores, marshes and other wetlands,mudflats, seagrass meadows, kelp orests and rockyrees40. Our estuaries can be classified into five maingeomorphological types, including the large drowned rivervalleys (e.g. Tamar, Derwent and other major estuaries),ast flowing river estuaries, barrier or bar estuaries, salinecoastal lakes and lagoons, and enclosed coastal inlets withlimited reshwater inputs14. Estuaries in northern Tasmania

are all open to the sea and possess the highest tidal ranges,

while many estuaries in eastern Tasmania and Bass Straitislands are intermittently closed by sand barriers, andthose located in the south and west are dominated byriver estuaries and small open estuaries in high rainallareas remote rom human activity14. West coast estuarieshave nutrient levels amongst the lowest in the world dueto the shallow soils and nutrient-poor rock types in theircatchments72, with the deficiency in nutrients havingmajor effects on biological communities.

Unique Estuarine Ecosystem –Tannin Estuaries

Southern and western Tasmania are home to the tanninestuaries, highly unique systems that support some o themost unusual estuarine plant and animal communitiesin the world. The inland areas o these catchmentsall within the south-west wilderness area where vast

areas o buttongrass plains and heathlands result in adominance o peaty soils containing tannic acid andother dark compounds derived rom plants. High rainallin the south-west results in these compounds leachinginto rivers and eventually into the estuaries where theyorm a deeply stained reshwater surace layer overlyinga clearer seawater layer below. These conditions do notoccur in any other part o Australia73, and result in anunusual phenomenon called ‘deepwater emergence’whereby organisms usually ound in very deep watersbeyond diving limits provide a magnificent display inaccessible shallow waters. Light-loving brown algaetypically recorded elsewhere in Tasmania to depths

o 10-20 m may be absent or limited to the top ewmetres74, and are replaced by delicate and unusual redalgae including species not recorded rom any otherenvironment. At depths as shallow as 5 m, algae diminishand the seabed is dominated by a colourul and diverserange o delicate, filter eeding marine invertebrates suchas gorgonians, sponges, lace bryozoans, anemones, seawhips, seapens, sot and hard corals, and tubeworms,some o which are not recorded below 60 m depthelsewhere75. Fish and mobile invertebrates are also highlyunusual, including species or even whole communitiesthat are more typical o deep waters offshore76.

The most extreme example o a tannin estuary is PortDavey-Bathurst Harbour in the south-west, a systemrecognised as having global conservation significanceon the basis o its pristine state and unique tannin-influenced ecology (see Section 6.6), while additionalmajor estuaries affected by tannins include MacquarieHarbour and the Huon Estuary. These areas containendemic and other rare species o fish, algae andinvertebrates, including some o the most localisedmarine species in Australia68. The tannin estuaries providea clear example o how unique attributes o Tasmania’sterrestrial landscape (e.g. the amazing south-westwilderness area) are transerred directly to the marine

environment, creating an equally remarkable wildernessarea below the waterline.

In tannin estuaries,stained reshwatermixes with clearmarine water to createa highly unusualaquatic environment(Photograph:© Jan Lieser).

Delicate sot corals(Erect Sot Coral, Drifaerecta) growing inabundance at unusuallyshallow depths in theinky waters o BathurstChannel in south-westTasmania (Photograph:© Graham Edgar).

Southern Sea Whip(Primnoella australasiae)(Photograph:© Graham Edgar).

Plumed Gorgonian(Pteronisis plumacea)(Photograph:© Graham Edgar).

The Cream Sea Lacebryozoan (Hornerarobusta) and sponges(Photograph:© Graham Edgar).



36

As a result o the combination o marine and reshwaterinfluences, estuaries are considered to be amongst themost productive environments on earth23, producing moreorganic matter per year than equivalent areas o orest,grassland or agricultural land7. They are also unique inbeing dominated by species that rarely occur abundantlyin ully marine or reshwater systems and are speciallyadapted or lie at the margin o the sea23. In Tasmania, thecomposition o estuarine plant and animal communitiesis most closely associated with tidal, salinity and rainallcharacteristics, size o estuary and presence o a seawardbarrier 14. Up to 150 fish species77 and 350 invertebratesincluding encrusting as well as sediment-dwellingorms78, have been identified in some individual estuaries.Tasmanian estuarine environments contain Endangeredspecies known nowhere else in the world, such as theSpotted Handfish, Maugean Skate, and Derwent Seastar 18,23,all o which are limited to just one or two o our estuaries.

Nearly 80% o estuarine habitat in Tasmania has beenclassified as having very high conservation value7, andcontains a documented 86 special values reflectingthe presence o Threatened species or other distinctiveeatures71. Our estuaries contain many wetlands o nationalconservation significance as well as internationally

important ‘Ramsar’ wetland sites (see Section 4.10).Large areas o intertidal and subtidal sot sedimentcontain diverse and productive inaunal invertebratecommunities7,23 that in turn provide a rich ood sourceor fish and shorebirds. Estuaries are oten called the‘nurseries o the sea’1, providing ood, spawning habitatand shelter or juveniles to develop. Many ecologically,recreationally and commercially valuable fish speciesdepend on Tasmanian estuaries during some point in theirlie cycles, and large numbers o migratory shorebirds alsorely on our estuaries as resting and eeding grounds duringtheir long journeys40. Besides serving as important habitat

or wildlie, estuarine habitats play an important role innutrient cycling and pollutant filtration and thereore inthe quality o our waterways7,77.

The iconic Spotted Handfish (Brachionichthys hirsutus): adult witheggs wrapped around stalked Sycozoa ascidians (top), one o theavoured spawning substrates o this species; and a baby Spotted

Handfish yet to develop the distinctive spotted markings (bottom).This tiny species measuring up to 12 cm is only ound in the DerwentEstuary and was the first fish to be listed as Endangered in Australia(Photographs: © Sue Wragge).

Dense estuarine bed o the Black-stemmed Eelgrass (Heterozostera nigricaulis) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Banded Stingaree (Urolophus cruciatis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




4.9 INTERTIDAL MUDFLATS

Intertidal mudflats occur in sheltered estuaries andembayments and are created through the deposition ofine sediments via tidal movement and catchment runoff.They are constantly changing, being gradually immersedin water during tidal floods and then becoming exposedagain to the air during tidal ebbs. Mudflats may appearquite lieless on first glance since, with the exception

o intertidal seagrass beds (Mueller’s Eelgrass, Zosteracapricorni) in some areas, they support ew visible plants,and also ew large surace-dwelling macroinvertebrates.However, in Tasmania these areas are incredibly rich inmicroalgae and invertebrate lie that provide importantood resources or juvenile fish as well as critical oraginghabitat or internationally significant populations oresident and migratory shorebirds.

Whilst generally reerred to as mudflats, sediments o tidalflats range rom fine silts and clays (i.e. ‘muds’) to fine-medium sands79 depending on level o wave exposure, whileother environmental attributes such as shore slope, tidalregime, and levels o nutrients, organic matter and oxygenin the sediments, also play a major role in determiningthe types o plants and animals ound there. Microalgaeare represented by rich and abundant communities in thesediments and shallow waters o Tasmanian mudflats,

with 55 species o diatoms and dinoflagellates recorded onone mudflat alone80. The invertebrates that rely on theseand other ood sources are primarily burrowing speciesound in the top 10 cm o the sediment, with studies oTasmanian mudflats recording more than 11,000 animalsper m2 – representing a staggering 17 billion animals intotal – on the most productive mudflat studied79. Thiscertainly contrasts sharply with any perception o mudflatsbeing barren places! Across nine mudflats, 255 species omacroinvertebrates have been recorded, with up to 135species recorded per mudflat, dominated by crustaceans,molluscs and polychaete worms. During tidal floods, fish

species such as young flounder, blennies, gobies, hardyheads and Australian Salmon orage over the mudflats79,making the most o the diverse range o invertebrateood offerings.

The most visible result o this high biological richness isthe aggregation o shorebirds, with species eeding in these

areas generally termed ‘waders’ and having a variety obeak shapes suited to extracting prey rom the sediments13.Tasmanian mudflats provide oraging grounds or adiverse and abundant wader auna o around 25 residentor regularly visiting species and an additional 15 irregular

visitors or ‘vagrants’13,81,82, including Endangered andprotected migratory species. Some Tasmanian mudflats

support populations o many hundreds o shorebirds,with bird counts at individual sites occasionally exceeding1,000 during summer months83. Mudflat sites vary in thediversity o resident and migratory waders they contain,with the Pied Oystercatcher and Red-capped Plover beingthe most significant resident waders, and migratoryspecies including a range o mudflat specialists, such as theBar-tailed Godwit, Great Knot, Red Knot and EndangeredEastern Curlew, that cannot orage in any other habitat69.Not all invertebrates living in the sediments o mudflatsare suitable bird prey, however based on primary ‘birdood’ species, research has shown that individual mudflats

in Tasmania may support up to 20 tonnes o ood at certaintimes through the year 84, again emphasising their highproductivity and ecological significance.

Despite the limited number o identifiable invertebrates on the

surace, dense burrows as ar as the eye can see are testament to thehigh productivity o mudflats (Photograph: © Annette Harrison).

The Fragile Air-breather (Salinator fragilis) is a sea snail that occurs incountless millions on estuarine mudflats(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Southern Soldier Crab (Mictyris platycheles) occurs in hugeabundances on some Tasmanian mudflats, ingesting large quantitieso sediment in order to extract small ood particles (Photographs:Overview – © Edward Forbes, Close-up – © Graham Edgar).



38

In addition to supporting a rich diversity o lie andimportant bird species, our mudflats perorm a numbero important ecosystem processes that help to protectthe health o estuaries and sheltered embayments.

These areas requently receive nutrients rom catchmentinputs which may reduce water quality and also impacton biodiversity. The mudflats help to remove nutrientsrom the water column through microbial denitrificationprocesses, while the invertebrates also play a major rolein sediment chemistry and nutrient cycling through theirburrowing activities79.

4.10 S ALTMARSHES AND OTHER COASTAL WETLANDS

Tasmania’s highly indented coast creates a range osheltered environments that are exposed to tides butare protected rom the scouring action o waves. Within

these sheltered areas, there are coastal wetlands thatare permanently or seasonally saturated with marineor brackish water and provide habitats or a ascinatingrange o plants and animals adapted to living at theinterace o the land and sea. Tasmania is unique inhaving proportionately more wetlands or its size thanany other Australian state81, and in having a highly diverserange o wetlands due to its complex geomorphologyand coastal landorms. In act o 40 wetland typesrecognised nationally, 19 are represented in the smallstate o Tasmania and are dominated by marine andcoastal zone wetlands85. Tasmania’s wetlands also contain

a large number o endemic and Threatened species, adisproportionately large percentage o all o the State’svascular plant species, and relic Gondwanan biota notevident on mainland Australia85.

There are 44 marine and coastal wetlands in Tasmaniathat are listed on the Directory o Important Wetlandso Australia, while eight o these are also listed asinternationally significant ‘Ramsar’ wetlands, including

marine sites at Pitt Water-Orielton Lagoon in southernTasmania, Moulting Lagoon on the east coast, Laviniaon King Island, and Logan Lagoon on Flinders Island.These important wetlands support populations o rareand Threatened plants and animals, as well as nationallyand globally significant numbers (i.e. > 1%)o resident and migratory shorebirds, while manyalso have important hydrological roles and highbiogeographical significance85,87.

Tasmania supports internationally significant numbers o theresident Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), a wader thatparticularly avours estuarine mudflats where flocks exceeding 400birds have been recorded (Photograph: © Annette Harrison).

The Endangered Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis) (Photograph: © Alan Fletcher).




While mudflats, sandflats, estuaries (including lagoons),rocky shores, sandy beaches and shallow marineecosystems such as seagrass beds have also been classifiedas ‘wetlands’81, they have been considered in more detailelsewhere in this report due to their unique characteristics.The ocus here is on the saltmarshes, which provideparticularly strong linkages between terrestrial andmarine ecosystems. Saltmarshes consist o plant andassociated animal communities that develop along lowenergy, temperate coastlines between the mean high and

low water tide lines, and hence are tolerant o high soilsalinity and tidal inundation71,88. The predominance osaltmarshes in temperate areas is reflected by patterns ospecies biodiversity, with Tasmania recording a very highdiversity o approximately 60 saltmarsh plants comparedwith a low diversity o about 10 in northern Australia23.In total, 336 saltmarshes, covering a total area o 57 km2,have been mapped in Tasmania, with nearly 50% o thisarea identified as having high or very high conservationvalue and management priority71. They are distributedsporadically along most sections o the Tasmanian coast,but are most extensive and biologically diverse along the

highly indented south-east coast and in the ar west o thenorth coast88,89.

Elevation above sea level, tidal inundation, soil salinity,water table fluctuations, drainage, and soil aeration haveall been suggested as actors that affect the composition osaltmarsh communities86. At the most marine influencedsites, saltmarshes are dominated by succulent herbs andshrubs, while tussock species and non-succulent herbs aremore prominent at brackish sites (e.g. in upper estuaries)91.Tasmania’s communities are not only highly diverse, butalso include a substantial portion o plants and animals(e.g. crustaceans and molluscs) that are totally confined to

saltmarsh habitats89. Invertebrate communities contain aunique mixture o ully marine, reshwater, semi-terrestrialand terrestrial species92 and include animals such as crabs,amphipods, worms, molluscs, spiders and various insects90.

Diversity o auna is greatest in the highly productive lowermarsh, where invertebrate burrows greatly increase theeffective surace area o the marshes and aid with nutrientcycling90. Coastal saltmarshes also provide importantnesting and roosting habitat or resident shorebird species,as well as providing roosting sites or migratory birds suchas the Endangered Eastern Curlew.

Saltmarshes provide roosting habitat or shorebirds; picture here,an Endangered Eastern Curlew (Photograph: Alan Fletcher).

The saltmarshes on King Island provide critical habitat andood sources or the Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot81,demonstrating strong links between saltmarshes andterrestrial conservation values.

Saltmarshes are o considerable importance in bothmarine and terrestrial ood chains88, and perorm valuableecosystem services such as stabilising the coast andpreventing erosion, filtering out pollutants, and orminga natural barrier against the effects o flooding, currents,waves and storms. These services will become increasinglyimportant as climate change contributes to sea level riseand increasing storm requency and intensity2. Howeverthe environmental importance o saltmarshes and otherwetlands has requently been overlooked and they are nowconsidered to be amongst the most threatened ecosystemsin the world81.

Haswell’s Shore Crab (Helograpsus haswellianus) orms abundant populations at the lower end o marshes, with its burrowing activity at one siteound to increase the effective surace area o the marshes by 360% (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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4.11 COASTAL ISLANDS

Generally when we think about islands around Tasmania,the major islands such as King Island, the Furneaux Group,Maria Island, and Bruny Island, as well as perhaps HunterIsland, Three Hummock Island, Robbins Island, andMacquarie Island to Tasmania’s south3, are first to cometo mind. However, there are around 600 named islands40,as well as numerous additional rocky islets and rees

present around the Tasmanian coast, many representingremote specks o rock in the ocean and yet able to supporta diversity o lieorms. These islands and islets providea total coastline length equivalent to 72% o the lengtho the Tasmanian mainland coast, greatly increasing theavailability o coastal habitats in our state. While offshoreislands incorporate a range o marine, intertidal andcoastal environments, they are distinctly important dueto their isolation, and hence less disturbed biologicalcommunities, lower incidence o introduced pests andmore pristine state2.

The rugged ‘Needles’, Maatsuyker Island Group off Tasmania’s southcoast (Photograph: © Adam Davey).

Tasmania’s offshore islands are wild, spectacular placesthat provide important reuge habitats or seabirds,seals and other unique species o high conservationsignificance40. Seabirds and certain shorebirds (e.g. SootyOystercatcher) together breed on 90% o the islands17,and include 21 breeding species around Tasmania36 and aurther 19 on Macquarie Island95. While breeding colonies

occur above the high tide line, marine environmentsprovide the entire ood supply and are as critical to seabirdconservation as land-based nesting habitats. Tasmania’sislands are home to some highly restricted endemicseabirds, such as the Shy Albatross which only breeds onthree Tasmanian islands96 and the Royal Penguin whichbreeds only on Macquarie Island35. O the five areas thatare currently listed as critical habitat or Threatenedspecies in Australia, three occur on Tasmanian offshoreislands to protect Vulnerable and Endangered albatrossspecies. In addition, o the internationally significantImportant Bird Areas (IBAs) (see Section 5.2) recognised on

coastal islands o Australia, nearly one third o them arelocated around the small state o Tasmania35.

Unique Coastal Island Ecosystem – Australian Fur Seal Breeding Habitat

Australian Fur Seals ( Arctocephalus pusillus) at WestMoncoeur Island in Bass Strait (Photograph: © BiodiversityMonitoring Section, DPIPWE).

The Australian Fur Seal ( Arctocephalus pusillus) is oneo the rarest seals in the world12, and only occursin Tasmania and adjacent parts o south eastern Australia. It breeds primarily in Bass Strait on a smallnumber o rocky islands, although occasional pupshave been recorded as ar south as haul-out sites at

Ile De Phoques off eastern Tasmanian and The Friarsoff southern Bruny Island93. Tasmanian islands areo special significance or the Australian Fur Seal,supporting one fith o the total population andincluding a larger number o breeding colonies thanound in other states o Australia. The increasingsoutherly penetration o the warm East AustralianCurrent, combined with observations o occasionalpups at islands on the east and south coasts, suggestthat Tasmania could increase in importance or thisspecies and support a more southerly expansion othe breeding range i sea temperatures continue to

rise as a result o global climate change94

. The mostimportant site in Tasmania is Judgement Rocks,north-west o the Flinders Group, where nearly2,500 seal pups have been observed in one breedingseason, while Reid Rocks and Moriarty Rocks southo King Island and the Flinders Group respectivelyare also important sites, with smaller numbers opups recorded at eight additional breeding colonies94.Whilst not listed as Threatened, the geographicallyrestricted range o this species combined with astrong association with Tasmanian islands denotes ahigh natural value or our state.




Unique Coastal Island Ecosystem –Critical Albatross Breeding Habitat

Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) breeding site at Albatross Island, north western Tasmania. This endemic species is less pelagicthan many other albatross species, regularly venturing close to shore and remaining near breeding colonies once they have reachedmaturity (Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

Three offshore island habitats in Tasmania have been declared as Nationally Critical or Threatened albatrosses,including the Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) on three islands dispersed around Tasmania’s coast, and theWandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) and Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) on Macquarie Island97.These island habitats, including adjacent marine eeding grounds, are recognised as critical to the survival and geneticviability o these species nationally and globally. The Shy Albatross is the only albatross species totally unique to Australia, and is a Tasmanian breeding endemic, with colonies limited to three islands: Albatross Island off Tasmania’s

north west, and Mewstone and Pedra Branca off the Tasmanian south coast36. Adults remain close to their breedingcolonies year-round, whereas juvenile birds – predominantly rom the Mewstone colony – have been recorded oragingat sites as distant as southern Arica96. The Wandering Albatross may live or up to 80 years and has the largestwingspan o any living bird species (almost 3.5 m), and is also amous or its complex and spectacular nuptial ‘dance’.Both this and the Grey-headed Albatross mate or lie and breed only on subantarctic islands, being exclusive toMacquarie Island within Australian waters.

The Endangered Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans)only breeds at Macquarie Island in Australia (Photographs:with chick – © Kerry Steinberner, Australian AntarcticDivision; courtship display – © Christo Baars, Australian

Antarctic Division).

Breeding populations o the Endangered Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) are also exclusive toMacquarie Island within Australia (Photograph: © KerrySteinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).



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Tasmania’s offshore islands support massive aggregationso seabirds, including the largest colonies (up to 6 millionbirds) o the migratory Short-tailed Shearwater in Australia,as well as being the stronghold or the world’s smallestpenguin species, the Little Penguin, and or the Sooty

Oystercatcher and Black-aced Cormorant. These species,as well as the dainty Fairy Prion, are ound on nearly allo our offshore islands and display a distinct preerenceor these remote habitats36. Breeding sites o some otherseabirds, such as the Australasian Gannet, Shy Albatross,Sooty Shearwater, White-ronted Tern and AustralianPelican are entirely confined to offshore islands36. The BassStrait islands, including King Island, the Furneaux Groupand numerous smaller islands, are particularly importantor many o these seabirds, and also support largenumbers o White-aced Storm-Petrels, and rare breedingpopulations o the Threatened Fairy Tern98. MacquarieIsland has outstanding ecological significance or its

enormous concentration o 3.5 million breeding seabirds,including subantarctic penguins and many other seabirdspecies not ound urther north in Australian waters.

Tasmania’s coastal islands also provide critical breedinghabitats or Threatened seals, including some speciesthat breed no-where else in Australia. Maatsuyker Islandand several other small islands off Tasmania’s southcoast provide the only breeding habitat in Tasmania or

the Rare New Zealand Fur Seal33

, while Maatsukyer isalso a haul-out site and produces small numbers o pupso the Endangered Southern Elephant Seal94. Other thanoccasional visits, the latter species does not occur north oTasmania. Macquarie Island is the Australian strongholdor the Southern Elephant Seal, supporting 70-80,000seals that represent 10% o the world population94,99, andalso supports the most important Australian breedingpopulation o the Endangered Subantarctic Fur Seal100. Australian Fur Seals are endemic to south eastern Australiaincluding Tasmania and primarily breed on rocky islands inBass Strait, with 20% o the total population occurring inTasmanian coastal waters93.

The oraging range o inshore seabirds in Australia, highlighting Tasmania’s coastal islands as a national seabird ‘hotspot’(Source: Dutson et al.2009) 35.




5. TASMANIA’S REMARKABLEMARINE SPECIES

Tasmania’s marine environments include an unusuallyhigh number o rare and beautiul species that havebeen recognised to be Threatened at state, national orinternational levels, while many additional auna are listedas protected migratory and marine species in Australia.Fity-five o our marine species are considered to beThreatened in Tasmania or Australia at large, including 28seabirds, six fish, five whales, our turtles, our seals/sealions, three seastars, two estuarine grasses, one shorebird,one mollusc and one alga. An additional range o speciesound here are listed as globally Threatened, including fish,seabird and shorebird species, while some areas occupiedby Threatened species are also listed as Critical Habitat at anational level (see Section 5.2).

Threatened animals and plants are o very highconservation value due to declining populations or highly

restricted distributions, with ormal listings includingmany important species. However due to the ‘hidden’nature o our marine world and very limited baselineinormation, Threatened species listed in legislation mayonly represent a small portion o those that are in actthreatened with extinction101. In addition, some marinepopulations have shown gradual declines in response tohuman activities and provide an example o the slidingbaseline syndrome, whereby the expectation o what ahealthy ecosystem or population looks like changes overtime101. Catch statistics indicate that numbers o manymajor fisheries species have declined by >50% or even>80% over three generations – meeting the international

criteria or Endangered and Critically Endangered statusrespectively. Similarly, declines o up to 65% have beenrecorded amongst shorebird species since the 1950s7,seagrass beds have declined by an estimated 25% andGiant Kelp beds by 50% over the same period, and inshoremollusc biodiversity has decreased by nearly 70% overthe last 100 years101,102. This suggests that many additionalmarine species that are currently not acknowledged onormal lists may have very high conservation values.

The sections below describe significant marine species inTasmanian waters, with a ocus on ormally recognisedThreatened and protected species, however examples o

other known endemic (i.e. limited to Tasmania), highlyrestricted or declining species and communities arepresented based on available inormation.

Unique Coastal Island Ecosystem –‘Pristine’ sites with little ornegligible human disturbance

Sites that have received little human intererencedenote a high natural value or several reasons.

Firstly it is more likely that their natural populationso animals and plants have remained intact than inmore human-influenced areas, and that there havebeen ewer introductions o exotic species generallyassociated with human habitation (e.g. rats, mice,rabbits, cats, dogs, and oxes).

Secondly, it has been shown, particularly in themarine environment, that where natural levels obiodiversity have been sustained, the communityhas a greater resilience to natural or human-inducedenvironmental disturbances, such as introduction ointroduced marine pests. This is not to suggest that

coastal island populations have reduced susceptibilityto human impact; the impacts rom our history oculling seals as well as albatrosses (or export o theireathers), and evidence o albatross bycatches romlongline fishing, are testimony to this.

However remote and pristine offshore islands provideimportant reuge habitats or species with declininghabitat availability or quality in developed areas,while their populations may respond more slowlyto natural environmental disturbances than thosealready stressed by human-induced processes. Speciessuch as the Little Penguin provide a good example,

with many o its mainland Tasmanian habitatsdegraded or under threat, whilst the offshore islandscontinue to provide healthy habitat or large numberso birds. High natural values built around theseconcepts o isolation, resilience and naturalness areno better demonstrated than in the case o remoteoffshore islands, however Tasmania is also unique inhaving large areas o pristine habitat on the mainlandcoast o our remote south-west.



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5.1. M ARINE MAMMALS AND REPTILES

More than 40 species o marine mammals are oundin the waters and on coastlines around Tasmania andMacquarie Island. They include seals and sea lions, whichbelong to a group called the ‘pinnipeds’, as well as whalesand dolphins, which together are known as ‘cetaceans’.Like terrestrial mammals, pinnipeds and cetaceansbreathe air, have warm blood, give birth to live young that

resemble the parents and are ed milk by their mothers.Tasmania has no resident marine reptile species, howeverwe have regular or occasional visits rom a number oturtle species oraging at the very southern limit o theirdistributional ranges. Many cetacean, pinniped and turtlespecies are o high conservation value in our waters andcomprise the charismatic ‘megaauna’ at the top o ourcoastal ood chains.

5.1.1. Pinnipeds (seals and sea lions)

Colonies o pinnipeds occur mainly on rocky, remoteparts o our coast, particularly in southern Tasmania,the Bass Strait islands and Macquarie Island, where theyorm breeding populations or ‘haul-out’ (i.e. resting, non-breeding) aggregations. Tasmania supports a very diverserange o pinniped species compared with other parts o Australia because o a unique combination o temperateand subantarctic auna, with seven o ten recordedspecies rarely venturing north o Tasmanian waters. Allpinniped species regularly observed in Australia103 havebeen confirmed as occurring here either as residents oroccasional visitors, with five orming breeding coloniesincluding the Endangered Southern Elephant Seal andSubantarctic Fur Seal, as well as the Antarctic Fur Seal,Rare New Zealand Fur Seal, and Australian Fur Seal.Colonies o the ormer three species are limited to oroccur primarily on Macquarie Island, however Tasmania’ssouth coast islands provide breeding habitat or NewZealand Fur Seals and small numbers o SouthernElephant Seals33,95. Our Bass Strait Islands supportimportant breeding colonies o Australian Fur Seals (seeSection 4.11), although this species occurs widely aroundthe Tasmanian coastline where it orms additional haul-out colonies. The Vulnerable Australia Sea Lion, andour additional species o subantarctic seals (Leopard

Seal, Crabeater Seal, Weddell Seal, Hookers Sea Lion) areoccasionally seen on our shores33,95,100.

Some well established seal colonies orm the basis o tourismventures, with participants guaranteed to see large numberso these playul and sometimes highly vocal creaturesswimming and cavorting within the colony. We are privilegedto witness this sight; populations o seals were heavilyimpacted by the sealing industry in the 1800s and 1900s andare only gradually recovering, with some populations stillabout one third o their estimated pre-sealing sizes40. Theseals rely completely on the marine environment or ood;most eed on small pelagic fish and squid, however the New

Zealand Fur Seal consumes additional small numbers oseabirds such as Little Penguins and shearwaters104, and theLeopard Seal is a ormidable marine predator that regularlypreys on birds and other seals105.

The Endangered Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina; a bullpictured here at Macquarie Island) is the largest o all living seals,with males weighing nearly 4 tonnes and reaching up to 6.5m inlength. It has an interesting social structure, with the largest andmost experienced males attempting to gather and control haremso up to 100 emales, while assistant bulls patrol sections o thelargest harems on their behal. This species belongs to the ‘true’

seals that lack external ears and are less agile on land than the‘eared’ seals which include sea lions and ur seals. It is neverthelessan animal that has truly adapted to both land and sea; dividing itstime between the two and being capable o diving to 1,700 m depthand remaining submerged or more than an hour at a time duringhunting excursions100 (Photograph: © Christo Baars, Australian Antarctic Division).

Australian Fur Seal ( Arctocephalus pusillus) pup(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

Australian Fur Seals at Tenth Island, northern Tasmania(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).




5.1.2. Cetaceans (whales and dolphins)

Tasmania’s cetacean auna is also remarkably diverse,consisting o 34 known species that include a largenumber o Threatened and protected species, as well asmysterious species that are known only rom strandingevents106,94. Tasmania’s east coast is particularly importantas a migration path or the Endangered Southern Right andHumpback whales as they move between their summersubantarctic eeding grounds and winter birthing groundsalong Australia’s south east coast33,94. These two speciescome close to the coast and so Tasmanians are luckyenough to get the first glimpse o these whales duringtheir northerly migration77. Additional Threatened speciesinclude the Endangered Blue Whale and Vulnerable Fin

and Sei whales, while the Sperm Whale is categorisedas globally Threatened. Many cetaceans are listed asprotected migratory species due to their broad oceanicranges and hence international significance. Most o thelarger species are ‘baleen’ whales which eed by sievingtonnes o krill, small squids and fish through a series oplates or ‘baleen’ (e.g. Southern Right Whale, HumpbackWhale), while the toothed whales actively hunt fish andbirds – and even other marine mammals – using teeth tograb or tear at their prey (e.g. Sperm Whale, Killer Whale,dolphins).

Tasmania is unique or its high occurrence and diversity owhale strandings, with two thirds o Australian strandingevents occurring on our shores94. In addition, the strandedanimals include a wide range o unusual species rarelyobserved elsewhere on Australia’s coast, such as the PygmyRight Whale and Hector’s Beaked Whale. The strandingrequency is a possible reflection o our long and complexcoastline combined with variable seabed topography,whilst the diversity o species may be due to a largenumber o Antarctic and subantarctic species occurring

more requently around Tasmania than the Australianmainland107. O the toothed whales, the most commonlysighted in Tasmanian waters are the charismatic CommonDolphin and Bottlenose Dolphin, although at least five

The Endangered Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is themost significant cetacean species or Tasmania, because in additionto migratory habitat, our coastal waters provide critical calvinghabitat or recovering populations o this species94. Tasmania wasthe ormer stronghold or breeding populations, with our eastcoast historically recognised as the Australian centre or calvingactivity. This area includes many protected bays and inlets withsot sediments, which present ideal habitat or the Southern RightWhale, which calves close to shore. Courtship and mating areritualistic events or whales, with displays including lunging, chasing,

jaw clapping, head butting, spiralling and strong vocalisation or‘singing’33. Rumours o noise complaints rom whale song in theearly history o Hobart reflect the once very abundant populationso this species. While calving ceased in Tasmanian waters as a resulto the whaling industry during the 19th century, there has been agradual recovery o populations and recent exciting evidence oSouthern Right Whales calving again in small numbers in Tasmanianwaters94 (Photographs: mother and cal – © Biodiversity MonitoringSection, DPIPWE; underwater – © Aquenal).

104 Subantarctic Fur Seal ( Arctocephalus tropicalis) at MacquarieIsland (Photograph: ©Nick Gales, Australian Antarctic Division).

A Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) breaching(Photograph: © Nick Gales, Australian Antarctic Division).



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additional dolphin species may occur here. Large pods omore than 300 dolphins are sometimes observed104, withthe sea ‘coming alive’ with the breaching o these beautiulstreamlined animals. An additional species is the majesticOrca, one o the top predators in the ocean and the largestpredator o warm-blooded animals in the world, which ismore requently sighted in Tasmania than most other areaso Australia108.

5.1.3. Turtles

Four species o marine turtle occur in Tasmanian watersand all are o high international conservation significancedue to their oceanic distributions and broad migratorypathways. The Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles arelisted in Australia as Endangered, and Green and Hawksbillturtles as Vulnerable, while threats to the Leatherbackand Hawksbill turtles are categorised as ‘critical’ at aglobal scale. They have large Indo-Pacific ranges, withthe Loggerhead and Green turtles migrating up to 3,000kilometres between eeding and breeding areas33. Theworldwide decline o marine turtles has heightenedawareness about their high conservation value and theneed to protect them within both their breeding and

oraging ranges. Marine turtles are very long lived, withsome species not reaching maturity until 30 or even50 years o age and then only breeding every five to six years. None o the turtles breed in Tasmania, however theLeatherback Turtle is a regular inhabitant and has beenrecorded on all Tasmanian coastlines33. Congregationso this species have been observed in Bass Strait wheresouthward flowing warm currents converge with the edgeo the continental shel, and plentiul supplies o jellyfish

and other sot-bodied ood items are available109.

5.2. BIRDS

Tasmania, including Macquarie Island, provides breeding

or oraging habitat or around 90 shorebird and seabirdspecies, as well as at least 20 additional species that arevery occasional visitors or ‘vagrants’13,36,95,106,110. Thesespecies represent an incredible diversity o lie on ourshores, and have wide ranging habitat preerences and liehistories, including both resident and migratory species.Twenty-nine species consisting primarily o seabirds arelisted as Threatened at state or national levels, while ouradditional species are listed as globally Threatened and46 species are o international significance due to theirlarge migratory ranges. Each country alling within themigratory pathway o these species has committed toprotecting them within their jurisdiction to acilitate a

global conservation effort. Significant terrestrial birds alsohave close associations with marine environments, suchas the Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot that breeds onlyin Tasmania and is dependent on saltmarshes or oraginghabitat during its annual northerly migration81.

Around the world, Important Bird Areas (IBAs) havebeen identified that are recognised as internationallyimportant or bird conservation and known to supportkey bird species. Relative to its size, Tasmania has a highernumber o these important bird areas than any otherstate or territory o Australia, as well as the highest overallpercentage o land designated to them35. The 43 IBAs (=14%o the IBAs in Australia) covering 18% o Tasmania includea large number o islands that are important or seabirds,particularly in Bass Strait and along the south coast, as

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)(Photograph: © Judy Crees-Morris, Australian Maritime College)

The Endangered Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

A small pod o Orcas (Orcinus orca) playing with Southern ElephantSeals (Photograph: © Australian Antarctic Division).




well as beaches and mudflats on the Tasmanian coastthat are o global significance or shorebirds35. Furtherinormation on Tasmania’s amazing array o significantbird species is provided below or seabirds, which arecategorised here as species that eed in open marine

environments and may spend extended periods at sea, aswell as the shorebirds which eed primarily in intertidalhabitats such as beaches, rocky shores and mudflats.

5.2.1. Seabirds

Tasmania is a global hotspot or seabird activity, withmore than 60 species observed oraging or in breedingcolonies around Tasmania and Macquarie Island95,106,including over hal o the world’s albatross species110 andall o the ormally recognised critical seabird habitatswithin Australia106. Twenty-eight species are listed as

Threatened in Tasmania and nationally, including 14albatrosses, seven petrels, our terns, two cormorantsand one prion, while an additional albatross speciesand two subantarctic penguins not listed in Australiaare Threatened at the global scale. Tasmania’s seabirdauna is unique within Australia due to its diverse rangeo subantarctic species not ound urther north, as wellas unusually high aggregations o several temperate andmigratory species that thrive on our many offshore islands(see Section 4.11). These seabirds rely entirely on the oceanor ood and are an important part o Tasmania’s marineood chains, eeding largely on krill, squid and fish, andin turn providing ood or marine mammals and sharks.They utilise a diverse range o ecosystems, occurring insheltered inlets and estuaries through to our open coastsand seas36.

Breeding seabirds include 15 species around Tasmania andan additional 20 at Macquarie Island36,95, with nest sitesranging widely rom stabilised dune soils on headlands toburrowing habitat amongst tussock grass or herbfields,beaches and sandy spits, and ledges o rocky islets and

stacks. Breeding colonies around the Tasmanian coastinclude two Endangered species – the Little Tern andSot-plumaged Petrel – and three Vulnerable species,the Shy Albatross, Fairy Tern and White-ronted Tern.Macquarie Island supports magnificent aggregations oseabirds including breeding populations o 13 Threatenedspecies, seven o which are Endangered and thereore oparticularly high conservation significance: the Wandering,Grey-headed, and Black-browed albatrosses, as well asthe Antarctic Tern, Fairy Prion (southern), and SouthernGiant and Sot-plumaged petrels99. Breeding sites or theShy Albatross around Tasmania, and the Wandering andGrey-headed albatrosses at Macquarie Island are listed asCritical Habitats in Australia106. Breeding populations oThreatened species are in some cases largely or entirelyconfined to Tasmanian coasts.

The Shy Albatross is endemic to three Tasmanian offshoreislands (see Section 4.11), while the Royal Penguin listedas globally Vulnerable only breeds on Macquarie Island.Several additional nationally protected marine species arerestricted to southern Australia including Tasmania, suchas the Black-aced Cormorant and Pacific Gull35, whileTasmania supports a very high proportion o the Australianpopulation o the Vulnerable Fairy Tern (12%7).

Tasmania’s seabirds include numerous protectedmigratory species, with a total o 26 recorded speciesincluding albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters and one tern.The migrators all within two major categories based

The Vulnerable Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) breeds only on Tasmanian offshore islands(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).



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on their geographic ranges: albatross and petrel specieshave vast circumpolar migratory pathways primarilyencompassing temperate and subantarctic latitudes inthe southern hemisphere; whereas the shearwaters andCaspian Tern migrate between the northern and southernhemispheres, circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean to travelbetween northern oraging and southern breeding sites.For example, Short-tailed Shearwaters migrate 15,000kilometres each way on their annual migration, and have

been known to fly this remarkable distance in just sixweeks111. In contrast with the migratory shorebirds (seebelow), many migratory seabirds breed on Tasmanianshores and then disperse to overseas eeding grounds.

O the 43 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) identified or

Tasmania, 31 include globally significant populations (i.e. >

1% o world population) o seabird species, 25 on offshoreislands and six around the mainland Tasmanian coast35.These sites are particularly important or Short-tailedShearwaters, Little Penguins, Black-aced Cormorants, Australasian Gannets, White-aced Storm-Petrels, FairyPrions and Pacific Gulls35,36,98. Tasmania supports Australia’slargest populations o the Little Penguin, Black-acedCormorant and Short-tailed Shearwater, with an incredible18 million o the latter migratory species arriving onTasmanian shores every spring36.

5.2.2. ShorebirdsTasmania has a diverse shorebird auna o 43 species,representing 64% o the shorebird species recordednationally13. Several species are included on Threatenedspecies lists, with the Eastern Curlew classified asEndangered in Tasmania, and the Red Knot as Vulnerableand Hooded Plover, Black-tailed Godwit and AsianDowitcher as Near Threatened at the international level.The conservation value o shorebirds appears to be highlyunderestimated on the basis o current Threatened specieslistings, with numerous unlisted species identified as aconservation concern and recommended or Threatened

species assessment13. These birds occupy a diverse rangeo intertidal habitats, and include the ‘waders’ that probeor invertebrate ood on sheltered mudflats (e.g. EasternCurlew), as well as beach specialists (e.g. Hooded Plover),and rocky shore specialists capable o hammering preyattached to rocks (e.g. Sooty Oystercatcher). The ull rangeo habitats used by these species is vast, and includesspits, estuaries, river mouths, tidal mudflats, saltmarshes,saline wetlands, sand dunes, sandy beaches and rockycoastlines13.

Tasmania is particularly important or 20 protectedmigratory species that, with the exception o the Double-

banded Plover, breed in northern China, Mongolia,Siberia and Alaska during our winter and then migrateto Tasmania in summer to eed. These birds utilise amigration route termed the East Asian-Australasian

Flyway, one o the world’s major flyways that represents

an extremely significant component o global shorebirdpopulations, extending up to 12,000 km, including 23countries and a minimum o 8 million birds112. Being themost southerly point o this flyway, Tasmania representsthe southerly extremity o the distribution range oPalaearctic migratory shorebirds and serves as the finalresting and eeding site or many individuals beore theyreturn to breeding grounds13. During the summer migratoryseason, Tasmania has an estimated total population o40,000 shorebirds70, while during winter our shores supportthe highest densities in Australia o the Double-bandedPlover that migrates rom New Zealand to eed13.

Tasmania also supports the highest densities in Australia oseveral resident species (i.e. species that spend their entirelie within Tasmania), and includes around 20-30% thetotal Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher, and HoodedPlover populations7,13,36. Our coast provides importantbreeding habitats or these species, with nests otenoccurring singularly and being deended within a territory(or ‘exclusive zone’) o several hundred metres, as opposedto the mostly colonial nesting sites o seabirds. Thesespecies, like many seabirds, remain aithul to the samemate and nesting site year ater year and hence any loss othese sites is a major threat to breeding success13.

With consideration o both resident and migratory species,16 internationally significant shorebird sites have beenidentified in Tasmania on the basis o supporting 1% ormore o individuals within the East Asian-AustralasianFlyway or global population o a species35,70,112,113. These sitesare well dispersed around the Tasmanian coastline, and aresignificant primarily or the resident Pied Oystercatcher(13 sites), Sooty Oystercatcher (8) and Hooded Plover (8),and the migratory Ruddy Turnstone and Double-bandedPlover (4 each), while smaller numbers o sites aresignificant or seven additional migratory species includingthe Endangered Eastern Curlew. Tasmania’s remarkable

aggregations o shorebirds have contributed to the listingo several internationally recognised ‘Ramsar’ wetlandsites, with population numbers suggesting that additionalsites also meet the criteria or listing.

Tasmania is reported to be the Australian stronghold or the LittlePenguin (Eudyptula minor )36, the world’s smallest penguin. This

amazing little bird is a competent climber and may ascend heightso up to 100 m above sea level in search o suitable breeding sites.It uses song and displays varying rom a ‘hal-trumpet display’ to aever pitch o sound and flipper, beak and body movements to attract

mates, repel intruders and, as a duet, unite a pair’s attachment toeach other 111 (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The only known breeding site or the endemic Royal Penguin(Eudyptes schlegeli) is at Macquarie Island(Photograph: © Rowan Butler, Australian Antarctic Division).




5.3. FISH

Tasmania’s marine fish auna is highly diverse and includesmore than 600 species17, with 85% o these unique tosouthern Australia8 and some representing bizarre andrare orms that are only ound in Tasmania. Our state, andparticularly its south-east, is a global hotspot or endemicfishes, with new species continuing to be discovered52. Sixspecies are listed as Threatened in Australia; the SpottedHandfish and Maugean Skate as Endangered and theGreat White Shark, Australian Grayling, Red Handfish andZiebell’s (/Waterall Bay) Handfish as Vulnerable. TheseThreatened species cover a wide range o habitats andlie histories, rom the ree and sot sediment dwellingmarine handfishes, to the estuarine Maugean Skate, thediadromous (i.e. migrating between resh and salt water) Australian Grayling, and the pelagic wide-ranging GreatWhite Shark.

The conservation significance o some commercial specieshas also been increasingly recognised, with the SchoolShark, Orange Roughy, Eastern Gemfish and Southern

Bluefin Tuna categorised as ‘Conservation Dependent’,and the latter species as well as the Spotted Handfishcategorised as Critically Endangered at the internationalscale. Many o Tasmania’s shark species are listed asglobally Vulnerable (e.g. Spotted Dogfish, School Shark,Shortfin Mako), while our coastal waters include keynursery sites or sharks, rays and skates that have beendesignated as protected Shark Reuge Areas40. Tasmanianwaters contain a diverse range o protected fish in theamily Syngnathidae, including the colourul and iconicWeedy Seadragon, listed as Near Threatened globally,and the graceul Bigbelly Seahorse that is described asa ‘flagship’ species or marine conservation. Many fish

species are o commercial or recreational significance,with 50 species fished in total, dominated by 15-20 speciessuch as the widespread Bastard Trumpeter, StripedTrumpeter and Warehou17.

Pied Oystercatchers (Haemotopus longirostris) (Photograph: © ValeriaRuoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Hooded plovers (Thinornis rubricollis), juvenile and adult (Photograph:© Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

The Ruddy Turnstone ( Arenaria interpres) picks invertebratesrom decomposing seaweed (Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo andEric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Vulnerable Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)(Photograph: © Chris Black).



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The handfishes are amongst Tasmania’s most unique andThreatened fishes, represented by species with extremelylocalised distributions and a range o unusual orms114. The14 known handfish species are all confined to southern Australia, with 11 o these ound in Tasmania and sevenendemic (i.e. totally unique) to our state. Four are endemicto shallow coastal waters, primarily within the south-east, including the above three Threatened species anda newly described species known only by the scientificname o Brachiopsilus dianthus that is also likely to be ohigh conservation significance114. The best known o thehandfishes is the Spotted Handfish, which is confined to

the Derwent Estuary and has a total estimated populationo just 1,000 to 1,800 mature individuals occupying an arealess than 3 km2 115,116.

Another highly unusual Tasmanian species is theEndangered Maugean Skate, a ‘Gondwanan relic’ thatis the oldest lineage o skate in the world, and mostclosely related to New Zealand and South Americanspecies that evolved when the southern land masseswere still connected11,46. It was only discovered in 1988and is confined to the low salinity upper reaches o twobiologically unique estuaries, Bathurst and MacquarieHarbours on Tasmania’s west coast. This ‘micro’endemic

fish is the only skate worldwide to occur mainly inbrackish water, and also the only skate with such a highlyrestricted distribution68. Its total population size has beenestimated at less than 2,500, while its area o occupancy

is not more than 100 km2 117. Other rare and endemic fishspecies have recently been identified in Tasmania, with anew species o sand fish (Lesueurina sp.) confined to oursouth coast, and studies underway suggesting the presenceo many additional endemic species including gobies andclingfishes52.

Species that spend part o their lie cycle in reshwaterstreams as well as the ocean represent importantecological links between these aquatic habitats. TheVulnerable Australian Grayling is one such species that is

limited to south-eastern Australia, occurring in estuariesaround much o the Tasmanian coast. The basic biologyo this species including migratory behaviour remainspoorly understood, however marine habitats are importantor the first six months o lie when larvae develop into juveniles ready to return to the rivers33. Whilst not listedas Threatened, the Tasmanian Whitebait (or ‘DerwentWhitebait’) is also a significant species on the basis oits endemic Tasmanian distribution and description ascommercially threatened118. It has a distinct migratory‘run’ rom marine to resh waters and a lie cycle o just one year, meaning that any actors threatening thesuccess o recruitment in any particular year have serious

implications or the conservation o the species119.

The beautiul Weedy Seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Potbelly Seahorse (Hippocampus bleekeri)(Photograph: © Geoff Rollins).

Draughtboard Shark (Cephaloscyllium laticeps)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

A school o Bastard Trumpeter (Latridopsis forsteri),an important commercial species in Tasmania(Photograph: © Sue Wragge).




5.4. INVERTEBRATES

Tasmania’s marine environments support rich andcolourul marine invertebrate communities, including adiverse range o both mobile and sessile (i.e. permanentlyattached, not ree-moving) orms. As described or thefishes, Tasmania, and particularly the south-east o thestate, is a hotspot or endemic marine invertebrates thathave highly localised distributions, and contains the only

marine invertebrates listed as Threatened at a nationallevel. These are the Critically Endangered Derwent RiverSeastar and the Vulnerable Live-bearing Seastar, whileGunn’s Screw Shell and the seastar Smilasterias tasmaniae are listed as Vulnerable and Rare respectively in Tasmania.The small number o listed Threatened invertebratespecies here and nationally is highly unrepresentative othe conservation value o this group, and reflects theiroten hidden nature and lack o monitoring data needed todetect population declines101.

High diversities and levels o endemism have beenrecorded across a wide range o invertebrate groups.Tasmania’s mobile auna includes more than 1,000molluscs (e.g. sea snails, sea slugs, scallops, squid)102,with 95% o these endemic to the southern temperate Australian region containing Tasmania, while 90% o ourechinoderms (e.g. seastars, sea urchins, brittle stars, seacucumbers) are also endemic to this region8. Crustaceansare represented by numerous subgroups (e.g. lobsters,

crabs, shrimps, sandhoppers) and include species totallyunique to Tasmania67, while sessile communities providemagnificent displays o sponges, anemones, ascidians (or‘seasquirts’; these have a backbone as larvae but sharemany attributes with invertebrates), tubeworms, lacybryozoans, eather-like hydroids, sea ans, gorgonians,seawhips, seapens53 and ‘keystone’ cold water coral speciesthat provide habitat or many other animals1. O the >500sponges recorded rom Tasmania and adjacent areas osouthern Australia, 60% are endemic, while two thirdso the 200 recorded ascidian species and ~500 bryozoanspecies in the same region are also endemic. The lattercolonial, ‘moss like’ animals reach their greatest species

diversity in temperate waters where they comprise 80%o the shel sediments, representing the equivalents o thetropical ree building corals17.

Moon Jelly ( Aurelia aurita)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar)

The pictured Endangered Maugean Skate ( Zearaja maugeana) isa preserved specimen since this extremely rare and little knownspecies has not been photographed in its natural habitat

(Photograph: © Thor Carter, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research).

The Vulnerable Red Handfish (Thymichthys politus) (top) and recentlydescribed handfish Brachiopsilus dianthus (bottom) are endemic toTasmania and have highly restricted distributions primarily in thesouth-east o the state. The handfishes are related to the anglerfish,using an in-built ‘lure’ on the ront o their head to attract prey,comparable to angling using a fishing rod. They are slow movingfishes that ‘walk’ using modified hand-like fins, and lay eggs on the

seabed that hatch into ully ormed baby handfishes. This mode oreproduction, which lacks a ree-swimming larval phase, greatlylimits the ability o the handfishes to disperse and means that theycannot readily colonise a new area i their habitat comes underthreat (Photographs: © Karen Gowlett-Holmes).



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Pink-tipped Anemone (Epiactis australiensis)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Doughboy Scallop (Mimachlamys asperrimus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Superb Feather Hydroid (Gymnangium superbum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Ornate Sea Slug (Sagaminopteron ornatum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Tasmania’s unique invertebrates

Tasmania’s echinoderms are highly unique, includingthree Threatened seastars that are totally confined tothe south-east o our state and occupy areas as smallas <1 to 3 ha10,120. The brightly coloured Live-bearingSeastar is also significant due to its unusual mode

o reproduction, since this species gives birth to live young that are miniature replicas o the adults, and isone o only five seastars worldwide to do this121.

The endemic Live-bearing Seastar (Parvulastra vivipara) is uniquein so many ways: it is one o the most restricted marine speciesin Australia, being limited to a handul o sites in south-easternTasmania with a total area not greater than 3 ha10; it is one o thesmallest seastars in the world, reaching just 1.5 cm when ullygrown53; it produces live young which emerge rom the exposedsurace o the adult, a reproductive strategy known rom only fiveseastars worldwide121. The adult is both ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ due to this

species being a hermaphrodite, and the babies appear as tiny brightorange seastars just 1-2 mm in diameter 33 (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




Henderson’s Hermit Crab (Strigopagurus strigimanus)(Photograph: © Rebecca Hubbard).

Spotted Seastar detail (Nectria ocellata)(Photographs: © Neville Barrett).

Britttlestar detail(Photograph: © Adam Davey).

Colourul gorgonian corals (Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Purple Urchin(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Vulnerable Gunn’s Screw Shell (Gazameda gunnii)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



54

Tasmania’s highly diverse molluscan auna also containsmany treasures, rom the delicate Paper Nautilus torare volutes and cowries representing a relic auna inTasmania and southern Australia17, and hundreds o tiny‘micro-molluscs’ that are smaller than a match head44.Early studies identified parts o Tasmania as being

biologically distinct rom the rest o Australia primarilyon the basis o a large number o endemic molluscs.The Vulnerable Gunn’s Screw Shell is a beautiul highspired marine snail that is now Threatened on the basiso population declines, while many additional molluscsare rarely seen and may also be threatened withextinction102. The commercial Native Flat Oyster (not tobe conused with the cultured Pacific Oyster, which isan introduced species) was once common in temperate Australia but now only orms distinct rees at one sitein Tasmania, where it denotes a rare and high valuehabitat122,123. Marine invertebrates include many othersignificant commercial species in Tasmania, most

notably the Southern Rock Lobster, Giant Crab (thelargest crab in the world by weight), Blacklip Abalone,Greenlip Abalone, Southern Calamary, CommercialScallop and Maori Octopus17.

The Wavy Volute ( Amoria undulata); a morph lacking thecharacteristic waved pattern (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Native Flat Oyster (Ostrea angasi) was once abundant in southern Australian waters but now only orms distinct beds at a single site onTasmania’s east coast (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

One o Tasmania’s most valuable fishery species is the Southern RockLobster ( Jasus edwardsii) (Photograph: © Geoff Rollins).

Octopus hiding amongst rocks(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).




5.5. MARINE FLORA

The marine flora in Tasmania’s waters include seaweedsor ‘algae’, which are non-flowering and use spores toreproduce much like erns and mosses, as well as theseagrasses that produce flowers and are classified as‘angiosperms’ like our terrestrial flowering plants. Algaerange rom single celled microalgae through to massivemacroalgae such as the Giant Kelp, and include brown,

green and red colour orms. Both algae and seagrassesobtain their energy rom ‘photosynthesis’, a process thatuses sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce sugars withthe help o photosensitive pigments in their tissues, suchas chlorophyll. This reliance on light means that marineplants are limited to relatively shallow depths wherethere is sufficient light penetration, with depth rangesvarying amongst species partly on the basis o the types opigments they use. For example the pigments used by redalgae capture blue light, which passes most easily throughwater, allowing the red algae to extend to greater depthsthan the green or brown algae.

Algae and seagrasses are the ‘backbone’ o marine oodchains, being responsible or the ‘primary production’ oood resources that sustain the small animals that in turnprovide ood or larger predators. Within Tasmania, levelso algal species richness and endemism (uniqueness) areamongst the highest in the world, whilst our seagrass bedsinclude a unique mixture o warm and cool temperatespecies that greatly enhance the diversity o Tasmania’smarine sot sediment habitats.

5.5.1. Algae (seaweeds)

The southern Australian coastline incorporating Tasmaniais unusual in a global sense because o the very highdiversity o its algal flora, with the >1,300 recorded speciessubstantially more than identified along coastlines ocomparable length and latitudinal range elsewhere inthe world23. This high diversity has been attributed to along period o geological isolation, coupled with south-east Australia containing the longest ice-ree coastlinein the world9. Levels o endemism in this region are alsohigh with 60% o species being unique17, while parts oTasmania have the highest numbers o localised endemicalgal species in Australia6,124. One hal o Australia’stemperate species are present in our small island state,with an estimate o 635 or Tasmania and its offshoreislands, excluding Macquarie Island125, likely to greatlyincrease with on-going research41. Many elements oTasmania’s algal flora still remain unknown, as reflectedby the recent discovery o a new species o red algae nearHobart that has no known close relatives28. The macroalgalflora o Tasmania is typically cold temperate, but alsoincludes a unique element o colder water subantarcticspecies17 that are rare or totally absent rom mainland Australia. The photographs displayed in this sectionillustrate the huge diversity in macroalgal orms within our

marine environment.

Formal listing o Threatened algal species has been greatlyhindered by a lack o knowledge, and only the RareThree-node Seaweed (Cystoseira trinodis) that is limitedto Blackman Bay in the south-east24 is currently listed inTasmania, whilst no species in Australia have been listedas Threatened nationally or internationally101. Howeverresearch underway has revealed 35 species categorised asrare in Tasmania, with seven o these endemic to our state,

and three recommended as vulnerable and potentiallyendangered due to highly restricted distributions41.

Brown’s Cystophora (Cystophora brownii) ound on Tasmania’snorth coast (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Mueller’s Fern Caulerpa (Caulerpa flexilis var. muelleri)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

New Holland Seaan (Peyssonnelia novaehollandiae)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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The majority o the endemic species are red algae, andinclude two species in the genus Pterothamnion that areonly known rom one site each in southern Tasmania.Tasmania’s rare algae tend to be associated with unusualcombinations o physical parameters such as reetopography, exposure, salinity and light penetration41.

In addition to endemic species, there are at least fivesubantarctic macroalgae in Tasmania that have notbeen recorded elsewhere in Australia, but have beenound along cooler coasts overseas126. In addition, themagnificent orest-orming Giant Kelp (Macrocystis

pyrifera) orms major beds only off the Tasmanian coast,generating a major attraction or divers9. This kelp is thelargest alga in the world and is recognised as a ‘keystone’species, providing habitat or a myriad o animals includingcommercial species such as abalone and rock lobster 1,9 (seeSection 4.4).

Other cold temperate algae in Tasmania are also amongstthe largest Australian species, including Bull Kelp, StrapKelp, Common Kelp and other large brown algae such asCrayweed17,127. Due to the dominance o these kelps, algalbeds in Tasmania have a different structure to those in thewarmer temperate latitudes o Australia and have greateraffinity with plants in New Zealand and South America23.Some kelps are also o commercial significance, such asBull Kelp (Durvillaea potatorum), a species harvested at KingIsland where it washes onto beaches in large quantities.

Southern Peacockweed (Distromium flabellatum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Gunn’s Sea Lettuce (Myriogramme gunniana)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Amulet Caulerpa (Caulerpa hodgkinsoniae)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Serrated Caulerpa (Caulerpa scalpelliformis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Simple-branched Caulerpa (Caulerpa simpliciuscula)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Fan Coralline (Phymatolithon masonianum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




5.5.2. Seagrasses

Seagrasses orm luxuriant meadows on parts o Tasmania’sseabed and include seven marine species as well asthree aquatic grasses in estuaries that support similarecosystem processes. None o the marine grasses are listedas Threatened, however two o the aquatic grasses, theLarge-ruit Seatassel (Ruppia megacarpa) and the TuberousSeatassel (Ruppia tuberosa) are listed as Rare in Tasmania.Both species occur in the east and south-east o the state,the Large-ruit Seatassel preerring estuaries and lagoonsand the Tuberous Seatassel occurring in channels andsaltmarshes40. The Ruppia species are the only aquaticgrasses capable o surviving the highly variable salinitieswithin their upper estuary ranges and, like ully marinegrasses, are important or primary production, stabilisationo sediments and provision o structural habitat128 and oodor fish, invertebrates and birds.

Whilst not being listed as Threatened, the marineseagrasses have high conservation values and providekey nursery and oraging habitats or marine animals,including protected and commercially significantspecies15,17,63. Several types o seagrass beds haveparticularly high natural values, including large andpersistent stands o the long-lived Southern Strapweed(Posidonia australis) and very deep beds in the clear waterso Bass Strait, whilst beds o Sea Nymph ( Amphibolisantarctica) on the east coast are critical or fished speciessuch as the Southern Calamary. Further inormation onthese significant areas and the importance o particularseagrass species in our coastal ecology is provided inSection 4.6.

The beautiul Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is a ‘keystone’ species that is important or many marine animals and only orms orests in Tasmaniasouth o Bass Strait (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Beds o aquatic Ruppia grasses include two estuarine species listed as Threatened in Tasmania (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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6. MARINE BIOREGIONS –WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUTYOUR PART OF TASMANIA?

Tasmania’s high diversity o marine environments, asreflected by variable ocean currents and temperatures,tidal influences, wave exposure, geology and coastal

landorms, has a major influence on the biologicalcommunities present around our coast37. Variation inthese physical eatures is reflected by distinct changes inthe composition o rocky ree fish, invertebrate and algalcommunities, as well as beach-washed shells and beach-seine collections o coastal and estuarine fishes126. Onthe basis o biological differences, the Tasmanian marineenvironment has been divided into bioprovinces (scale o1,000s km) and smaller bioregions (100s to 1,000s km) aspart o the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisationo Australia (IMCRA)129. This has been undertaken primarilyor marine planning and management purposes, and

specifically to help establish a National RepresentativeSystem o Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA). Relative to itssize, Tasmania includes a very large number o bioregions,reflecting the diverse physical conditions and highlylocalised distributions o our unique marine species.

Four bioprovinces have been identified aroundTasmania, as well as an additional bioprovinceincorporating Macquarie Island. The majority othe mainland Tasmanian coast alls within theTasmanian IMCRA Province, which is characterisedby a cool temperate assemblage unique rom thewarm temperate communities o mainland Australia,

while the north coast and Bass Strait islands all intothree warm temperate bioregions that share greatersimilarities with south-east mainland Australia. Ata finer scale, Tasmanian state waters include eightbioregions, five that are entirely confined to Tasmaniaand three that are shared with Victoria, SA, and NSW. A ninth bioregion occurring in central Bass Strait isnot considered here because it lacks offshore islandsor other state coastal waters. Each o the marinebioregions has distinctive biological and physicalattributes that have been acknowledged to be unique totheir region and suitable or representation in a systemo Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

A national goal is to establish at least 10% o eachmarine bioregion within MPAs by 2012130, andsubsequently increase this to 20-30% in line with

international commitments. In Tasmania, we arecurrently alling well short o these targets. Fourbioregions - Franklin, Flinders, Otway and Boags - donot contain any MPAs in Tasmanian coastal waters. A total o 21 MPAs have been established across theremaining bioregions, encompassing 2.6% o coastalwaters around Tasmania, or 5.7% when the ullyreserved ‘no take’ waters o Macquarie Island areincluded. An additional consideration is that asiderom Macquarie Island, less than hal o the total areaallocated to MPAs is ully protected as ‘no take’ (42%),whilst 38% allows limited recreational fishing and

the remaining 20% has no restrictions on recreationalfishing; hence just 1% o waters around Tasmania areully protected.

So what is unique and important about the coastal watersnear you? The sections below showcase the remarkablediversity o Tasmanian marine environments and biologicalcommunities by describing the unique attributes oeach bioregion, and the Macquarie Island Province. Alsoincluded are some examples o special sites that containhigh conservation values and may also be particularlyrepresentative o their bioregion - some already declaredas MPAs and others not. These incorporate a range o

‘standout’ sites purely on the basis o ecological attributes,although do not consider other actors necessary orapplication o the ‘Comprehensiveness, Adequacy andRepresentativeness’ (CAR) principles that underpinMPA planning. Numerous additional sites are worthy oconsideration during selection processes that apply theseprinciples to the expansion o Tasmania’s MPA system. Inaddition, the marine ecosystems o many remote sectionso Tasmania’s coastline remain unexplored and henceadditional studies are needed to determine their naturalvalues.




Bioregions in Tasmania’s coastal waters (Source: Tasmanian Planning Commission, based on Edgar et al. 1995 126 and IMCRA 1998131).



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6.1. BOAGS BIOREGION –SEAGRASS HAVEN

The name o this bioregion reers to Jimmy Boags126,a historical identity and ounder o a major companythat produces a highly popular beverage… Magnificenteatures characteristic o his region include: the southern-most beds o a conspicuous and long-lived seagrass, the

Southern Strapweed (Posidonia australis), as well as themajority o habitat or another seagrass, Sea Nymph( Amphibolis antarctica); long sandy beaches brokenby prominent and geomorphologically unique rockyheadlands that extend underwater to depths o ~ 20 m131;a high tidal range o 3-4.4 m which creates strong currentsand associated diverse communities o sessile filter eedinginvertebrates; a high fish diversity; and characteristic BassStrait rocky ree species that are rare or absent urthersouth, including fishes (e.g. Ornate Cowfish, Snook, Yellow-striped Leatherjacket, Scalyfin), macroinvertebrates (e.g.Mosaic Seastar, Greenlip Abalone), and brown macroalgae(e.g. Cystophora monilifera and Xiphophora chondrophylla)126.This bioregion has a sheltered open coastline, protectedrom high ocean waves, but is still partly exposed towesterly winds16.

Major bands o rock type in Tasmania generally run in anorth-south direction, changing as you move rom westto east. The Boags Bioregion thereore provides a ‘crosssection’ o all the major types and has a highly variedgeology16, ranging rom ancient Precambrian (> 600 million years) rocks to more ‘recent’ Jurassic (~150-200 million years) dolerite, and provides outstanding examples o relicdune systems and beach ridges ormed during geologicaluplit events1. The varied rock types in turn provide a widerange o ree structures and substrates that influence thetype and diversity o marine species present.

Tidal currents around mainland Tasmania are strongest inthis region because o the higher tide range on the wideBass Strait shel and more constricted flow around themany offshore islands, inlets and estuaries16. Large ‘meso-tidal’ river estuaries are a major although geographicallyrestricted category o estuary in Tasmania, consisting o15 estuaries that all occur in this region71. Large headlandsthat ‘jut out’ into Bass Strait also modiy currentsand create areas o variable wave exposure and highbiodiversity. The Boags Bioregion contains internationallyimportant areas or resident and migratory shorebirds112,including the top our Tasmanian sites in terms o

shorebird diversity, and sites that are the strongholdor many migratory species13. Islands within this regionprovide breeding habitat or large numbers o seabirds36,and have invertebrate strandline aunas that are amongstthe most diverse in Tasmania67.

The base o the Nut at Stanley(Photograph: © Chris Black).

Mosaic Seastar (Plectaster decanus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Scalyfin (Parma victoriae)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Boullanger Bay/Robbins Island and Passage

In the very north west o our state lies a bird watchers

paradise, a biological ‘gem’ rich in bird lie which containsextensive intertidal eeding areas132 and additionalhighly productive marine habitats. This area is the mostimportant site or migratory shorebirds in Tasmania,containing the highest diversity o species (12 species13)and being o greatest international significance35. Birdnumbers exceed 1% o national population estimates orseven species, and exceed 5% o estimates or three othese (Double-banded Plover, Red-necked Stint and RuddyTurnstone)113. It is the only site in Tasmania that supportssignificant numbers o the Grey Plover and Red Knot113,and is also the Tasmanian stronghold or the Great Knot,

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Bar-tailedGodwit, Lesser Sand Plover, and Pacific Golden Plover 13. Itis internationally significant or the Endangered migratoryEastern Curlew, and or the resident Pied Oystercatcher,Sooty Oystercatcher and Near Threatened HoodedPlover 70, while the coastal saltmarsh supports the CriticallyEndangered Orange-bellied Parrot during its migrationseason133.

This area also contains exceptional and extensive seagrassbeds, including the most prolific beds o the SouthernStrapweed in the region, and one o only two knownTasmanian sites or a warm temperate seagrass species,

the Fibrous Strapweed (Posidonia angustifolia)56

. Whilstupdated seabed mapping is required in this area, 1990sdata suggest that this small section o Tasmania’s coastmay contain more than 10% o our seagrass beds.

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)(Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus)(Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Ornate Cowfish ( Aracana ornata) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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High Value Site – Lower Tamar Estuary

The Tamar Estuary is totally unique within Tasmania, beingthe only drowned river valley with a large tidal range14,whilst the lower estuary is characterised by strong tidalcurrents and very deep habitats rarely encountered soclose to shore (55 m134)44. An extremely diverse range omarine habitats is represented, including sandy beaches,rocky shores, algal and sponge dominated rees, seagrassbeds, sot sandy bottoms and coastal vegetation utilisedby seabirds44. The Tamar Estuary is unusual in possessingextremely high algal, invertebrate and fish diversities,and a large component o species not recorded in otherTasmanian estuaries14. A survey o 111 estuaries recordedthe Tamar as having the highest or second highest numbero invertebrates and fish in the state14, whilst this estuaryis the only known location to support as many as 300species o algae41. Seagrass communities are also diverse,supporting five out o the seven Tasmanian species58 withinan area less than 4 km2 134, with the different seagrassspecies supporting distinct fish communities45 andcontaining shark nursery habitats within a protectedShark Reuge Area58.

The strong currents and deep consolidated ree and cobblehabitats o the estuary channel provide ideal conditionsor development o extensive, spectacular ‘spongegardens’ that are dominated by sponges, sot corals andgorgonians, and cover an estimated 5.4 km2 in depthsranging rom 15 to 55 m44,134.

The only other estuary containing such highly developedsessile invertebrate communities is Bathurst Channel in thesouth-west, but the two systems are totally distinct due tocontrasting water clarity, nutrient levels and biogeographic(i.e. warm versus cool temperate) influences.

Diverse habitats and depth profiles at the entrance to the TamarEstuary (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and

Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania).

Little is currently known about the deepwater assemblageso the Tamar, but early indications suggest a great wealtho species44. As an additional ‘eather in its cap’, thediversity o shorebirds in the lower Tamar is amongstthe highest in the state (eight residents, ten migratoryspecies13), while a population o the Little Penguin is ohigh conservation value37 and provides a unique touristattraction or the area.

Spectacular sponge garden, Lower Tamar Estuary (Photograph: © David Maynard, Australian Maritime College)




High Value Site – Rocky Cape

The rocky rees o this location are exceptional dueto a diversity o habitats and species, similarly highgeomorphological diversity, relatively low level oanthropogenic disturbance, and high recreational value todivers126. The unique assemblages o Rocky Cape are in parta reflection o its unusual physical characteristics, withthis site the only area on the north coast where ancientPrecambrian rock outcrops into coastal and marinehabitats16. This rock consists o highly olded metamorphicquartzite that extends offshore as moderately-structuredree, with caves and crevices providing a complex rangeo habitats or marine lie37. Unique conditions are alsoormed by rees dropping off quickly into deeper water(>25 m), and by the large cape protruding into Bass Strait,causing acceleration o currents and variable exposure toprevailing westerly conditions. The rees o Rocky Cape arethereore more ‘current driven’ than typical or the northcoast, with the combination o depth and high currentresulting in extensive sponge gardens which supplementthe high diversity o algal-dominated ree, sparse seagrassand sot sediment habitats ound in shallower waters.The combination o ree complexity, and variable currentsover a broad depth range has no doubt contributed to the

outstanding species richness o the area37.

Rocky Cape also lies at the very eastern boundary o amarine biological province known as the ‘Western BassStrait Transition’ which extends westwards to South Australia129. The highly diverse communities o macroalgae,invertebrate and fish at Rocky Cape thereore containrepresentatives o this province126 that are absent oruncommon in more eastern parts o the Boags Bioregionor elsewhere to the south in Tasmania.

Complex rocky rees o variable depths and exposures to prevailingwesterly conditions at Rocky Cape (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania –Institute or Marine and Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania).

Verco’s Nudibranch (Tambja verconis), Rocky Cape




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High Value Site – Waterhouse

This site shares some attributes with Rocky Cape,however its contrasting geology, biogeographic affinities,unique island association and dominance o seagrasscommunities make this site outstanding in its ownright. The most notable eature is the extensive cover oseagrass that occurs in response to the shelter providedrom the prevailing westerly winds by the islands, reeridge and Waterhouse Point. These dense seagrass bedsare dominated by the Southern Strapweed, but alsoinclude extensive areas o Sea Nymph and the TasmanianEelgrass37, and extend into deeper waters than typical dueto the high water clarity o the area.

Horseshoe Leatherjacket (Meuschenia hippocrepis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Like Rocky Cape, Waterhouse Point and Waterhouse Island‘protrude’ into Bass Strait, thereore creating locally strongand variable tidal currents, exacerbated by the restrictedchannel between the island and mainland. It also includessubstantial development o structurally complex reesthat extend into deep waters up to 35 m and experiencehighly variable wave exposure. Rock types are moregeologically recent than ound at Rocky Cape, including

highly structured dolerite boulder fields and lower reliegranites that provide a wide range o habitats37. Algalgrowth on rees is very dense, oten approaching 100%cover, and supports a diverse fish assemblage containingspecies highly representative o the central ‘Bass StraitProvince’. Abundant fish species are largely restrictedto the north coast, such as the Magpie Perch, Old Wie,Zebrafish, Yellowstriped Leatherjacket, HorseshoeLeatherjacket, Rainbow Fish and Scalyfin. The outstandingspecies richness o this location can be attributed overallto high habitat diversity within a small geographicalarea, including rees and sandy areas with highly variabledepths, exposures and current strengths37. The shoreline

includes a mix o sandy beaches and rocky intertidalhabitat, and is also o geological interest due to relictterrestrial dune systems originally sourced rom the drybed o Bass Strait during glaciation events1.

Extensive seagrass areas and diverse ree habitats at WaterhousePoint and Island (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marineand Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania).

Brownstriped Leatherjacket (Meuschenia freycineti)





6.2. OTWAY BIOREGION –WAVES AND WINTERWARMTH

‘High energy’ is the best way to describe the remote andmagnificent coastline o the Otway Bioregion, which isnamed with reerence to Cape Otway on the Victoriancoast. Exposure to strong wave action, steep seabedprofiles and ast currents through the western entranceto Bass Strait131 create a paradise or plants and animalsdemanding high water movement. An example is the Bull

Kelp, a large brown alga endemic to the exposed rockycoastlines o Tasmania and south east mainland Australiawhich thrives in the high wave action o this region andhas become the basis o a kelp industry on King Island.

The Otway Bioregion also includes western Victoriaand eastern SA129, and hence our Otway coasts have anaffinity with these areas131 as demonstrated by the closesimilarities o King Island and Cape Otway intertidalaunas126. The tail o the Leeuwin Current originating inWestern Australia and travelling eastwards across theGreat Australian Bight extends into this region duringwinter months, bringing with it warm temperate SA

species such as the Queen Morwong that are uncommonelsewhere in Tasmania, and resulting in the warmestwater temperatures in the state126. In Tasmanian waters,the majority o coastal waters o this bioregion are locatedaround King Island, however it also includes the ruggednorth-western tip o mainland Tasmania and offshoreislands that are critical or our seabirds and marinemammals. Contained within the region is one o thelargest Tasmanian breeding colonies o the Australian FurSeal – the only colony in western Bass Strait – as well asNationally Critical albatross habitat. Upwellings o cool,nutrient rich waters in this region131 are likely to providea rich ood source or these oragers o the open sea.

The Otway Bioregion also has outstanding geologicaldiversity and geoconservation values, including outcropso ancient Precambrian rocks and a diverse range o morerecent rock types such as granites, marine dolomites andlimestones16,135.

The Bull Kelp (Durvillaea potatorum) thrives in the exposed conditionso the Otway Bioregion (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Cushion Star (Petricia vernicina)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Red Bait Crab (Plagusia chabrus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Castelnau’s Wrasse (Dotalabrus aurantiacus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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High Value Site – King Island

While King Island covers a broad area, sites o highvalue or different types o marine communities arewidely distributed on this remote and unique slice oTasmania and more detailed studies are required toidentiy the areas that best represent its outstandingconservation values. The coastal environment o thisisland has a character all its own, located in the path othe inamous Roaring 40’s gales and thereore requentlyexperiencing winds exceeding 100 km/hour. The geological

diversity o King Island is renowned and reflected by astructurally complex seafloor and a range o spectacularcoastal ormations such as sea-caves, sheer cliffs andoutstanding beaches1. The coastal waters are importantor commercial species such as crayfish, abalone andBull Kelp, and contain ree fish, invertebrate and algalcommunities distinct rom other areas o the state6,126.The Christmas and New Year Islands off the northwesterncoast o King Island have particularly diverse marinehabitats and have been recognised as a conservationhotspot or marine lie. These islands contain the greatestrange o marine habitats and highest biodiversity in

the vicinity o King Island, including extensive seagrassbeds and abundant populations o species rarely oundelsewhere in Tasmania, such as Troughton’s Seastar andthe red alga Plocamium preissianum126.

King Island also has high conservation value orresident and migratory shorebirds, being recognised asinternationally significant or resident seabirds includingthe Pied Oystercatcher, Sooty Oystercatcher and NearThreatened Hooded Plover, as well as the migratoryRuddy Turnstone98,112. King Island supports large colonieso Little Penguins and Short-tailed Shearwaters, whilerecent surveys ound that it holds two thirds o the

breeding population o the Vulnerable Fairy Tern and morethan hal o the Endangered Little Tern, making it themost important Tasmanian locality or these Threatenedspecies136. Almost 20 migratory shorebird species have beenrecorded98, with similar diversities and species compositionto the important Boullanger/Robbins Passage site in theBoags Bioregion, suggesting an interchange o shorebirdsand potentially critical reliance between these two areas136.King Island’s saltmarshes within the Sea Elephant estuaryo the Lavinia Nature Reserve are o high significance asoraging habitat or the Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. This internationally significant ‘Ramsar’

wetland represents 10% o the saltmarsh habitat that isclassified as having a high conservation value statewide71.

Toothbrush Leatherjacket (Acanthaluteres vittiger )(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Greenlip Abalone (Haliotis laevigata)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

King Island’s beaches and dunes are important or shorebirdsincluding Threatened tern species (Photograph: © Karen Parsons).




High Value Sites – Seabird Islands: Albatross Island and Black Pyramid

The Otway Bioregion includes numerous small offshoreislands that support prolific seabird populations. Howevertwo provide reuges or particularly unique seabirdpopulations that are very rare elsewhere in Tasmania orindeed the world. Listed nationally as Critical Habitat, Albatross Island has been described as appearing‘almost white with birds’ and is home to 5000 pairs othe Tasmanian endemic and Vulnerable Shy Albatross36,representing 40% o the total known population o thisspecies. To cap off its status as a seabird haven, thisisland also supports breeding populations o six additionalspecies, including 30,000-50,000 breeding pairs o theFairy Prion. It is a regular haul-out or both the AustralianFur Seal and the Rare New Zealand Fur Seal, and isoccasionally visited by Endangered Southern Elephant Sealsand Vulnerable Australian Sea Lions36.

Black Pyramid Rock is a spectacular tear-drop shapedisland with sheer cliffs surrounding much o the island.It is on this isolated rocky outcrop that more than 12,000pairs o the Australasian Gannet breed each year, withcareully measured pecking distances between nest sitesreflected by the uniorm pattern o birds within thecolony36. This represents the largest breeding population othis species, and one o only three colonies, in Tasmania. At a global scale, this rocky island accounts or 20% o thetotal Australasian Gannet population133.

Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator ) breeding site (Photograph: ©Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

The Black Cowry ( Zoila friendii), a species limited to the north west in Tasmania (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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6.3. FLINDERS BIOREGION– CLEAR WATER ISLANDS

The Flinders Bioregion is named ater Flinders Island andreers to Matthew Flinders, the navigator who made theremarkable discovery o a broad and island-dotted straitseparating Tasmania rom the land mass to the north.Outstanding eatures o this region include diverse islandarchipelagos with distinctive granite shores, a wide rangeo exposures and tidal currents, extensive sandy beaches,protected shallow habitats supporting vast seagrass beds131,and unusually high estuarine biodiversities14. This bioregionis dominated by the Furneaux Group, which includes morethan 60 islands and numerous additional islets, but alsoincludes the small Curtis and Hogan Island groups to thenorth-west28,126.

Eastern shores are exposed to strong swells rom theTasman Sea, while other areas are relatively protected butexperience strong tidal currents due to constricted flowsaround and between islands16. Remarkable coastal eaturesinclude the calcarenite cave system on the Flinders Island

south-west coast, spectacular parallel dune systemsenclosing brackish lagoons along the east coast o theFurneaux Islands, and the saline lagoon systems o CapeBarren Island1.

A colourul nudibranch (Shorttail Ceratosoma, Ceratosomabrevicaudatum) grazing on the surace o a gorgonian coral(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Pink Top shell (Calliostoma armillatum)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Old Wie (Enoplosus armatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Southern Six-armed Star (Meridiastra medius)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Giant Cuttle (Sepia apama)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




The Furneaux Group contains extensive areas o protectedhabitat that are particularly significant or seagrass,with limited mapping data suggesting that these islandsmay contain more than 50% o Tasmania’s total seagrasshabitat. Ree plants and animals in this region contrastwith those o other parts o Tasmania, while invertebratesare highly variable even between the various islandgroups126. This bioregion is also remarkable or its estuarinebiodiversity and naturalness, containing nearly one third

o 48 Tasmanian estuaries categorised as having critical orhigh conservation significance. Cape Barren Island alonehas a total o seven pristine estuaries7, while the FurneauxGroup, together with the north-east o mainland Tasmania,contains a range o estuarine species that are not oundelsewhere in Tasmania14.

Seagrass beds (green) mapped in the 1990s in the Furneaux Group(Source: Jordan et al. 1998)45.

The Flinders Bioregion has high conservation value orseabirds and shorebirds, containing more than 20% o

Tasmanian sites listed as internationally Important Bird Areas (IBAs)35. These areas contain significant populationso resident shorebirds, including the Hooded Plover, PiedOystercatcher, and Sooty Oystercatcher 137, while severalsites at Flinders Island are o international significanceor the migratory Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint112. The Furneaux Group is also a hotspot orseabirds such as terns, containing breeding habitat or ourspecies including the Vulnerable Fairy and White-rontedterns36 and supports more than 250,000 pairs o LittlePenguins, 7.5 million pairs o Short-tailed Shearwaters, and60,000 pairs o White-aced Storm-Petrels98. The Flinders

Bioregion is the Tasmanian stronghold or the AustralianFur Seal and supports 90% o the Tasmanian breedingpopulation, or 18% o the total population o this endemicsouth-east Australian species93.

Red-necked Stints (Calidris ruficollis)(Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Colourul sponge and coral garden, Flinders Island(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Prickly Rose Sponge (Dendrilla cactos) Flinders Island(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Blue-ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



70

High Value Site – North East Inletand Adjacent East Coast Beaches

North East Inlet is located at the northern end o FlindersIsland and is one o ten estuaries identified statewide ashaving critical conservation significance14. This estuarypossesses exceptional species richness, and provides

habitat or a quantum level more invertebrate and fishspecies than all other Tasmanian estuaries apart romthe almost comparably diverse Tamar Estuary. Theestuarine auna includes numerous invertebrate and fishspecies not recorded in other Tasmanian estuaries, aswell as fish species not recorded at any other locationaround the state28.

While much o the Flinders Island coastline is importantor shorebirds, the extensive east coast beaches betweenPot Boil Point and North East Inlet are o particularsignificance and contain a disproportionately high numbero resident shorebirds137. Based on recent surveys, thisstretch o coast holds 84% o the Hooded Plovers, 55% oPied Oystercatchers and 77% o the Red-capped Ploversrecorded around the Flinders Island coast. Given the largenumbers o resident shorebirds, and additional suitablenesting habitat or small terns, this area is o highestconservation value to nesting shorebirds and small terns

on Flinders Island137.

High Value Site –West Coast Furneaux Seagrass Beds

Mapping in the 1990s revealed exceptional seagrass bedsalong the western shores o Flinders Island that areimpressive in areal magnitude, density and unusuallylarge depth range45,56. Vast beds, extending as ar as 10 km

offshore rom the coast were detected, and are likely tobe a major contributor to nutrients in eastern Bass Strait.While the dominant species, the Southern Strapweed,generally occurs to maximum depths o 15 m53, beds havebeen recorded in depths o up to 20 m along the west coasto Flinders Island, reflecting the exceptional water clarityin this region. Even at this depth, the limit o surveying,seagrass reaches a high density suggesting that the bedsextend into even deeper water 45. This area is only oneo two locations in Tasmania where the related FibrousStrapweed has been observed45, and is highly unusualin being located 600 km to the east o the mainland

Australian distributional limit o this species53.

The Furneaux Group supports very large beds o seagrass,particularly the Southern Strapweed (Posidonia australis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Seagrass Egg Urchin ( Amblypneustes sp. 1) grazing on another seagrass species, Sea Nymph ( Amphibolis Antarctica) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Judgement Rocks

Judgement Rocks are a remote and spectacular group orocky islets located to the north west o the FurneauxGroup. They are the most important site or the AustralianFur Seal in Tasmanian waters, supporting by ar the largestbreeding colony, with nearly 2,500 pups recorded in mostrecent annual counts36,93. Nearly 60% o the Tasmanianpopulation and 10% o the total population o this speciesoccupy these small islets93. The main island reerred to

as Judgement Rock has impressive granite cliffs, cavesand gulches and a broad rocky plateau that provides thehabitat so desired by breeding seals, while the seals alsohaul-out onto three adjacent rock stacks36. In additionto its high population numbers, this site is especiallysignificant because, unlike other Tasmanian colonies, itis secure rom high seas when the pups are young andvulnerable. The choice o such a site is well justified,especially as Orcas (Killer Whales), a natural predator oseals, are known to peruse the area… 36

Judgement Rock, supporting the largest breeding population o the Australian Fur Seal ( Arctocephalus pusillus) in Tasmania (Photograph:© Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

Playul Australian Fur Seals(Photograph: © Jane Elek).

High Value Sites –Franklin Sound and Banks Strait

Franklin Sound is the island-dotted area o waterseparating Flinders Island and Cape Barren Island. It hasbeen identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA), supportinginternationally significant populations o the Black-aced Cormorant, White-aced Storm-Petrel, Short-tailedShearwater and Sooty Oystercatcher 35. Underwater, theentrance to Franklin Sound is particularly interestingbecause it contains a huge diversity o habitats, including

sand and ree habitats in both shallow and deep water,and extensive seagrass beds containing the SouthernStrapweed and Sea Nymph. This area has a high recordedbiodiversity and its location directly next to a NationalPark reflects complementary marine and terrestrialconservation values. The area o southwestern FlindersIsland rom Badger Corner to Trousers Point and extendingor 1 km offshore is considered to be most representativeo the high values o Franklin Sound126.

To the south o the Furneaux Group lies Banks Strait, thesouth-eastern opening o Bass Strait into the Tasman Sea.The constriction o water flow through this entrance

creates strong tidal currents as evidenced by deep scouringaround the southern islands o the group. The channelseparating Passage Point on Cape Barren Island romPassage Island provides an example o this, where currentsrace through and have scoured a deep channel. The habitathere in some ways parallels the deep channel entranceo the Tamar Estuary on the north coast, however thewater here is much clearer, more influenced by the warmEast Australian Current, and is ully marine with minimalreshwater or catchment inputs. It thereore represents ahighly restricted habitat that is likely to support unusualbiological communities, although its marine lie remains

largely a mystery at this stage38

.

Granular Seastar (Uniophora granifera)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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6.4. TWOFOLD SHELFBIOREGION – WHERE THREEBIOPROVINCES MEET

The Twoold Bioregion is primarily located along theVictorian and New South Wales coasts, and is namedater a representative area, ‘Twoold Bay’, in the latterstate. However, the unique and beautiul islands o theKent Group within the north-eastern Bass Strait waterso Tasmania have a high affinity with these coasts and

provide the only Tasmanian representatives in thisBioregion6. The waters surrounding the Kent Group arereserved and currently represent the largest MarineProtected Area in Tasmanian waters other than MacquarieIsland. They are strongly influenced by the warmer watersbrought into Bass Strait by the East Australian Current andinclude a diversity o ree habitats, including encrustingcoralline-algal rees with very ew macroalgae as wellas the more typical macroalgal-dominated rees64, and arange o fish and other species not ound urther south inTasmania131.

As a whole, the Twoold Bioregion is characterised by an

exposed coastline with variable wave energy, long sandybeaches broken by rocky headlands, and numerous coastallagoons131. In Tasmanian waters, we associate it morespecifically with spectacular offshore islands that containpristine marine habitats ranging rom beaches to deeprees, and support a rich community o intermixed warm-and cool-temperate plants and animals.

Green Solitary Coral (Scolymia australis)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Irregular Seastar (Smilasterias irregularis) (Photograph: © GrahamEdgar).

Southern Maori Wrasse (Opthalmolepis lineolatus) (Photograph: ©Graham Edgar).

Kent Group scenery(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Fish and invertebrate communities at a shipwreck site,Kent Group (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Kent Group of Islands

The Kent Group has been recognised as having outstandingconservation values due to its unique biogeographicallocation at the convergence o the three southern Australian marine biological provinces138, incredibly highbiodiversity, and exceptional water clarity resulting romits isolation rom major sources o runoff or pollution10.This group is located approximately hal way betweenWilsons Promontory and Flinders Island, and consistsprimarily o the Deal, Erith and Dover islands and thewide Murray Passage running through the centre o the

group. A diverse range o habitats reflect the unusualbathymetry, oceanography and geomorphology o theregion, and include rocky rees o varying exposure anddepth, sheltered coves with seagrass, sandy habitats andvery extensive sponge beds (> 100 km2)64. Local currents arevariable and can be particularly strong in Murray Passage,while the islands’ granitic structure results in structurallycomplex rees dominated by large granite blocks withassociated clets, ledges and caverns10. This adds to thehabitat diversity o the rees, which extend rom shallowwaters to impressive depths o up to 60 m139. Seagrasshabitats extend deeper than 20 m due to the unusuallyclear water 140, representing a rare habitat in Tasmanian

waters65. The strong influence o the warm East AustralianCurrent (EAC) on the biota, coupled with a lack o estuariesand a steep underwater depth gradient, differentiates thisarea rom the adjacent Furneaux Group Islands138.

Southern Hinge-back Shrimp (Rhynchocinetes australis) (Photograph:© Graham Edgar).

Hollow-spined Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii) detail(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Butterfly Perch (Caesioperca Lepidoptera) in coral gardens(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Complex shoreline and marine habitats at the Kent Group,with notably large surrounding areas o sponge habitat(Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and AntarcticStudies, University o Tasmania).



74

The Kent Group supports a higher diversity o marineplants and animals than most neighbouring areas o BassStrait due largely to the influx o warm temperate aunal

species via the EAC

65

. The fish auna reflects a strong NSWinfluence, while the marine plants are most similar tothose in SA, and cold temperate species limited to theTasmanian region are also present6,10. The ‘character’ orees is also distinct due to the presence o shallow reesthat are encrusted by coralline algae and generally lackmacroalgae due to the grazing activities o another typicalNSW species, the Hollow-spined Urchin (Centrostephanusrodgersii)126. The Kent Group has a rich fish auna comparedto other areas o Tasmania, with 35% o species either notrecorded rom other Tasmanian coastal waters or limitedto the north coast (e.g. Eastern Blue Grouper and CrimsonBanded Wrasse)65. Mobile invertebrate communities are

also distinctive due to the presence o species rarely oundurther south (e.g. Multi-spined Seastar, Pale MosaicSeastar)138, while sponge gardens cover a remarkable40% o habitats in depths > 40 m and include encrusting,erect and branching sponges, as well as many ascidians,octocorals, sot corals, anemones and bryozoans64. Acoral community that partly covers the seabed o MurrayPassage at 30 m depth is particularly unusual28. The islandso the Kent Group support many species o breedingseabirds that are dependent on the surrounding marineenvironment or ood, with the strong tidal influence andturbulent waters o Murray Passage acting to concentrate

ood or predators such as Little Penguins140

.

Palm sponge gardens(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Coral garden in Murray Passage, Kent Group(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Sponge garden detail(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).




6.5. FRANKLIN BIOREGION –RUGGED, REMOTE BEACHES

The Franklin Bioregion occupies the majority o Tasmania’swest coast and reers to the Franklin River, an iconiceature o our Wilderness World Heritage Area126. Theremote and largely pristine coastline o this region liesin the path o strong westerly winds o the Roaring 40sand is subject to some o the most extreme weather onearth. Waves build up over thousands o kilometres in

the southern Indian and Atlantic oceans beore breakingon the Tasmanian west coast. The largest wave recordedin temperate Australian coastal waters was measured inthis region – a 19.8 m giant off Ocean Beach23! The exposedopen coastline has many long sandy beaches that areseparated by rocky headlands131, with ew comparableundisturbed, high energy rocky and sandy coasts oundin the world’s temperate zones. A diversity o landormsincludes outstanding coastal eatures such as raisedmarine terraces that provide Australia’s most completerecord o sea level in relation to tectonic uplit1. The onlydeviation rom the characteristic high-energy coastline isMacquarie Harbour, a massive inlet on the central west

coast that receives high volumes o reshwater rom theKing and Gordon rivers and orms Tasmania’s largestestuarine system.

Rather than possessing characteristic plants oranimals, the biological communities o this region aredistinctive or their low diversity o ree plants andanimals, sot-sediment fish communities, estuarine fishand macroinvertebrate assemblages, and molluscs incollections o beach-washed shells14,126. This has beenattributed to a combination o very high wave energy onthe open coast131 and low nutrient, dark stained watersin estuaries that restrict algal growth and hence primaryproduction14. Despite the low diversity, some attributes othe Franklin Bioregion’s auna are unique, and this vastlength o coastline has considerable conservation valueon the basis o its largely pristine state. Beach habitats othe region are important or both resident and migratoryshorebirds, with Ocean Beach internationally significantor the migratory Sanderling112, and also supporting highnumbers o Double-banded Plovers and Red-necked Stints.The north-west coast provides extensive stretches osuitable nesting habitat or resident Hooded Plovers,Pied Oystercatchers, Sooty Oystercatchers and VulnerableFairy Terns132.

Unique geology o Tasmania’s west coast(Photograph: © Karen Parsons).

Red Velvetfish (Gnathanacanthus goetzeei)(Photograph: Graham Edgar).

Warrener (Turbo undulatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Blue Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



76

High Value Site – Macquarie Harbour

Macquarie Harbour is unique within the Franklin Bioregionand Australia at large. This massive inlet, which is oneo the largest estuarine systems in the country, covers295 km2 7 and is thereore six times the size o SydneyHarbour! It has highly unusual physical and hydrologicalcharacteristics, with the only similar water body inTasmania being Bathurst Harbour urther to the south73.These two estuaries are unique in Australia, having highlystratified waters, a darkly stained brackish surace layer,and relatively deep (>30 m) basins separated rom thesea by shallower areas. Macquarie Harbour is however

distinctive rom the Bathurst system due to higher nutrientlevels73, more restricted marine flows at its narrowentrance, and its ‘three-layer’ system comprising a suracelayer o mixed marine and reshwater origin, a marinebottom layer, and also an intermediate slowly changingmid-layer 141.

Biological studies within Macquarie Harbour have alsorevealed a remarkable discovery. The Endangered MaugeanSkate is an endemic western Tasmanian species that wasonly discovered in 1988 and is limited to brackish upperestuary waters (see Section 5.3). This species was initiallybelieved to be confined entirely to Port Davey in Tasmania’ssouth-west, however it was subsequently recorded inMacquarie Harbour, where it is in act more abundant andwidespread46. The highly limited distribution o this ‘micro-endemic’ fish means that protection o its habitat is a veryhigh conservation priority38.

Macquarie Harbour depth contours, illustrating the presenceo a deep basin separated rom the sea by a shallow entrance(Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and AntarcticStudies, University o Tasmania).

The unique and picturesque Macquarie Harbour (Photograph: © Adam Davey).




High Value Sites – Sloop Rocks and Point Hibbs

The marine habitats o the open coast are poorly knownin the Franklin Bioregion, however amongst the sitesexamined during ree surveys, the Sloop Rocks area southo the entrance to Macquarie Harbour is consideredto contain the best known representation o the reeassemblages in this region126. The area rom Dunes Creek toGorge Point (including offshore Sloop Rocks) contains deepas well as shallow rees and some shelter to the prevailing

westerly swells, and is thereore expected to contain a highproportion o the Franklin open coast biodiversity. Theenvironment around Point Hibbs has not been surveyedbut includes an even wider range o wave exposure, andmay also provide a wider range o tidal currents and otherconditions given the presence o a protruding headlandand associated small island (Hibbs Pyramid). This site isworthy o investigation, since it may yet prove to bestrepresent the range o open coast habitats within therugged Franklin Bioregion126.

Eleven-armed Seastar (Coscinasterias muricata)


Bluethroat Wrasse (Notolabrus tetricus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

High Value Site – Wanderer Estuary

The remote Wanderer River Estuary located 60 km southo Macquarie Harbour is one o ten estuaries statewidethat has been classified as having critical conservationsignificance14. This estuary is very unusual in that despitehaving a large catchment and occurring in a high rainallarea, it is occasionally closed by a sand barrier. Such anestuary is more typical o the dry east coast where lowrainall and hence reshwater flows provides greater

opportunity or accumulation o sand around estuaryentrances. In a characterisation o 111 estuaries aroundTasmania on the basis o physical variables, the WandererEstuary was one o only two estuaries (the other being theTamar Estuary, see Section 6.1) that ormed its own uniquegroup within the nine estuary groups identified. The fishand invertebrate assemblages in the estuary are verydifferent to those o other barrier estuaries, and containvery ew species as well as low animal abundances. Thevalue o this estuary thereore lies not in high biodiversity,nor in it being representative o the Franklin Bioregion, butinstead to it being highly pristine and the only estuary o

its type in Tasmania14

.

Wavy Top Shell (Clanculus undatus)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



78

6.6. DAVEY BIOREGION– PRISTINE MARINE

WILDERNESS

Named with reerence to Port Davey, the Davey Bioregionhas the most extensive undeveloped coastline insoutheastern Australia126, and extraordinary marine valuesthat contribute to the international significance o thebroader south-west Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area1. It has an extremely exposed open coastline131,experiencing persistent westerly air streams, high rainalland heavy ocean swells68 that are reflected by its dramaticcoastal landorms. Extensive rocky headlands occur alongthe coast and are separated by sandy beaches131, while thediverse ecosystems include maximally and sub-maximallyexposed rocky coastlines, numerous spectacular offshore

islands, and the sheltered estuarine areas o BathurstChannel and Harbour. The region is globally unique byvirtue o its isolation, lack o disturbance and lack opollution rom the land, while the southern shores andoffshore islands provide a strong ecological link with theSouthern Ocean68. It contains many pristine estuaries,including our out o ten categorised statewide as havingcritical conservation significance14. New River is arguablythe most pristine integrated coastal, estuarine andreshwater system in Australia1, while the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour system is the most geomorphologicallyprominent eature o the region and has globallysignificant conservation values associated with its highly

unusual physical attributes and biological communities126.The majority o the latter estuary is located within the onlyMarine Protected Area declared to date in this bioregion.

The major biological eatures o the Davey Bioregion arean algal flora that includes elements very distinct romthose ound elsewhere, and a low diversity o ree fish14,126

associated with high wave exposure on the open coast,and combined influences o low productivity and highreshwater inputs in estuaries. However, fish communitiesinclude a large number o highly restricted endemicspecies, including an Endangered relic skate, sandfish,cave dwelling ling and clingfishes68. Algal communitiesare unique due to unusual conditions both in estuariesand on the open coast; in the tannin-affected estuaries,brown kelps are replaced at shallow depths by a range odelicate red algae usually ound much deeper, while heavywave exposure on the open coast has the reverse effect opushing Bull Kelp to much greater depths than recordedelsewhere68. Marine invertebrate communities containmany potentially endemic species recorded rom only onelocation73,142, while the high diversity o beach sandhoppersand relatives in undisturbed habitats is globally uniqueand has acilitated study o the transition o lie rom seato land68. The Davey Bioregion contains significant birdpopulations, particularly on remote offshore islands,including critical albatross habitat, approximately fivemillion seabirds dominated in number by Short-tailedShearwaters and Fairy Prions, and internationallysignificant (i.e. > 1% o total population) numbers o threeresident shorebird species133. These islands also includethe only breeding habitats around Tasmania or two

Threatened seal species.

Cream Sea lace (Hornera robusta)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Bramble coral ( Acabaria sp.) in Bathurst Channel (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour

This outstanding and globally significant drowned rivervalley represents one o the most unique and complexo Tasmania’s marine environments126, and the onlylarge estuarine system in southern Australia withoutsignificant human impact. Whilst not o glacial origin, ithas many characteristics o fords, including a shallowentrance, deep channel connecting an almost land-lockedharbour to the sea, and unique populations o endemic

sessile invertebrates11,74. Its unusual physical attributesinclude possibly the lowest recorded nutrient levels orany temperate estuary worldwide143, and distinct layering(‘stratification’) due to dark tannin-stained suracewaters overlying clear marine waters and preventing lightpenetration to depth. The latter results in ‘deepwateremergence’74, a process not known to occur on the samescale elsewhere around Australia138, whereby typical shallowwater species are replaced by ascinating deepwatercommunities rarely encountered within diving access76.

Communities vary along the length o the estuaryin response to gradients in nutrient availability, light

penetration and water stratification74,144, with the innersheltered harbour, deep channel and more exposedseaward entrance each supporting distinct types oanimals and plants144.

Many species vary in their depth distribution along theestuarine cline, or example oliose algae reach 20 mdepth in Port Davey, 5 m depth at the western entranceo Bathurst Channel, but do not penetrate below 1 mdepth in eastern Bathurst Channel. The estuary includesa high number o endemic fish and invertebrates, suchas the Endangered Maugean Skate ound only in BathurstHarbour and one other west coast estuary11,74, and is theonly Australian estuary with a fish species not recordedelsewhere (a cusk-eel, Microbrotula). Fish communitiesare dominated by sharks, skates and rays more commonin deep offshore waters rather than the usual mixture owrasses, leatherjackets and other common coastal reefish74.

The dark waters o Bathurst Channel experience strongcurrents, providing ideal conditions or filter eedinginvertebrates which provide a magnificent display o morethan 500 delicate species, many usually ound in waterdepths o 60-220 m as opposed to 5-12 m in this channel75.Their presence on such a large scale is unique to thenearshore environment o Australia68 and includes sotcoral species ound no-where else as well as large numberso the iconic sea pens11. An exposed coast extension o thetannin estuary system occurs in part o Port Davey orminga unique ‘overlap’ zone with clearer, high wave energywaters144. Shallow inlets in this area, and particularly KellyBasin, are o high conservation value due to their diversehabitats and pristine status. They contain the only seagrassbeds and nursery habitats in the Davey Bioregion, as wellas unusual algal beds, very high mollusc densities, andoraging habitats or resident shorebirds68,144. The small

islands o Port Davey are important or seabirds andsupport internationally significant numbers o the Short-tailed Shearwater, Fairy Prion, Little Penguin and Black-aced Cormorant133.

Map showing the localities o Port Davey, Bathurst Channel and Bathurst Harbour (Source: Parks and Wildlie Service, Tasmania).



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The marine lie o thePort Davey/BathurstEstuary depictingsome o the animalsand plants typicallyound at a range o

depths in BathurstHarbour (let)Bathurst Channel(right), and PortDavey (next page)

(Source: artist Janet Fenton, withpermission o theParks and WildlieService, Tasmania).

Great Sea Pens (Sarcoptilis grandis), Port Davey(Photograph: © Fred Bavendam).

Southern Basket Star (Conocladus australis) (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Maatsuyker Island

Maatsuyker is a jagged rocky island that rises steeplyrom the sea to an altitude o 278 m and is the home o Australia’s southern-most constructed landmark, theMaatsuyker Island Lighthouse104. It incorporates a groupo pyramid-shaped rocks known as the Needles that alsorise steeply rom sea, while its spectacular coast includesmany gulches and subterranean caves36. MaatsuykerIsland is a marine wildlie ‘jewel’ that supports largepopulations o seals and seabirds, including Threatenedspecies not recorded elsewhere in Tasmania. It orms theprimary Tasmanian breeding site or the Rare New ZealandFur Seal33, a haul-out site or Australian Fur Seals36, and

produces small numbers o Endangered Southern ElephantSeal pups94. It thereore represents the only current Australian breeding area or the latter species outsidesubantarctic islands. Subtidal rees include orests o theecologically important Giant Kelp104, and the sight o urseals swimming graceully amongst these orests providesone o the most magical diving experiences in Tasmania.

Maatsuyker Island(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

Fur Seals at Maatsuyker Island(Photograph: © Ron Mawbey)

Southern Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina): this Endangeredspecies has recently been breeding in small numbers atMaatsuyker Island(Photograph: © Kerry Steinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).

Maatsuyker and surrounding islands supportinternationally significant (i.e. > 1% o total population)numbers o Short-tailed Shearwaters (about 1.5 millionpairs), Fairy Prions and Black-aced Cormorants, as wellas thousands o pairs o Common Diving-Petrels and LittlePenguins133. A small breeding colony o the EndangeredSot-plumaged Petrel discovered in 2004 represents the firstrecorded breeding occurrence o this species in Australia104.Endangered Humpback and Southern Right Whales passMaatsuyker Island during their annual migrations and canbe sighted rom the island, while large pods o more than300 Common Dolphins have been observed off the Needles

and southern coast104

.



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High Value Sites – Mewstone and Pedra Branca

While many o the offshore islands o the Davey Bioregionhave high conservation values or seabirds and other

marine lie, Mewstone and Pedra Branca are unique inproviding two o only three breeding colonies or ourendemic and Vulnerable Shy Albatross and hence are listednationally as Critical Habitat. Both are very remote andree o predators68, making them sae reuges or manythousands o seabirds. Mewstone supports the largestknown Shy Albatross breeding colony (7,500 breedingpairs = 60% o total species numbers), while PedraBranca supports just 250 breeding pairs, due primarilyto competition or nesting space with the 6,000-8,000 Australasian Gannets that occur there96. The gannetpopulations at Pedra Branca and the nearby EddystoneRock represent two o only three breeding colonies orthis species in Tasmania. The seabirds at Pedra Brancaprovide ood in the orm o regurgitated fishes that allowsa lizard species, the Pedra Branca Skink, to survive onlyon this single small rocky island. Mewstone also supportsan estimated 20,000 pairs o Fairy Prions, while the RareNew Zealand Fur Zeal is a visitor to Pedra Branca, andboth islands provide regular haul-outs or Australian FurSeals36. Limited study o subtidal marine environmentsaround Tasmania’s wild, southerly offshore islands (PedraBranca is Tasmania’s southern-most offshore island withthe exception o subantarctic Macquarie Island), suggestsa considerable Antarctic influence on the basis o different

algal depth distributions and species composition10.Subtidal communities around the most southern islands othe Davey Bioregion may thereore be distinct rom thoseat other Tasmanian sites68.

Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta)(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).

Australasian Gannets (Morus serrator )(Photograph: © Valeria Ruoppolo and Eric Woehler, Birds Tasmania).

Pedra Branca(Photograph: © Biodiversity Monitoring Section, DPIPWE).




6.7. BRUNY BIOREGION –NATIONAL ENDEMICSHOTSPOT

The Bruny Bioregion in south-east Tasmania is named atera major geographic eature o the region, Bruny Island, andhas a particularly convoluted coastline with an abundanceo islands, peninsulas, embayments and estuaries thatcreate a huge diversity o habitats and spectacular coastalscenery. It has the highest localised level o marine

endemism in Tasmania, and probably Australia126, and isa hotspot or endemic handfishes, seastars, molluscs andalgae102,114,126. Wave exposure is particularly variable in thisbioregion, with exposed southern shores having toweringsea cliffs and complex sea caves eroded by poundingseas, while the many sheltered environments containTasmania’s widest range o sandy coastal eatures24. Clearoceanic water influences much o the exposed coast,however two large and strongly stratified drowned rivervalley estuaries (Derwent and Huon) have major effectson marine communities through changes in water clarity,light penetration, salinity and nutrient levels37. The Bruny

Bioregion currently has by ar the largest number odeclared Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) (16)145 althoughtheir combined area o 126 km2 is significantly smaller thanindividual MPAs in the Davey and Twoold Shel bioregionsand Macquarie Island Province, and only two o the 16include adequately protected ‘no take’ zones.

This bioregion supports distinctive ree and sot-sedimentaunas on the basis o the high number o endemic speciesand inclusion o many cold-adapted species not oundurther north37. The northern boundary o the BrunyBioregion reflects the average position o the interacebetween warm nutrient-poor East Australian Current

waters and colder nutrient-rich subantarctic waters24

, andhence the region has distinctive cold-temperate marinecommunities37.

Other distinctive eatures include a high ree speciesrichness that is second only to Maria Island6, the largestorests o the Giant Kelp and other cold-adapted algalspecies in Australia37, the most significant nursery habitatin the state or the commercial School Shark50, and alsothe largest beds o cool-temperate seagrasses. Endemicspecies include some o the most highly restricted marineanimals and macroalgae in Australia; or example theCritically Endangered Spotted Handfish is ound only in the

Derwent Estuary114

, the Vulnerable Live-bearing Seastar isknown rom a total area o just 3 ha10, and three potentiallyendangered species o red algae have been identified romonly one or two sites41.

Migratory and resident shorebirds utilise twomajor networks o mudflat sites, one including aninternationally significant Ramsar wetland, while seabirdpopulations include the largest Tasmanian population othe Fairy Prion36 and 99% o the Tasmanian populationo the Sooty Shearwater. The south-east coast providesan important migration path or two Endangered whalespecies, includes records or over 70% o all cetaceanspecies recorded within Tasmania, and contains six major

ur seal haul-out sites24.

Lace bryozoan (Triphyllozon sp.)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Giant Spider Crab (Leptomithrax gaimardii)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Common Gurnard Perch (Neosebastes scorpaenoides)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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High Value Sites – Huon Estuary Entrance and OffshoreReefs (Ninepin Point, Butts Reef, Zuidipool Rock, ArchRock)

The area where the dark tannin-stained reshwater othe Huon Estuary meets the cold, nutrient-rich seawaterrom the southern ocean provides a highly unusualmarine environment that is distinct rom other areas othe Bruny Bioregion37. Reduced light penetration in thewater column results in species ‘compression’ with depth,whereby typical shallow water plant and animal species

occur in very narrow bands near the surace, and arequickly replaced by species usually ound in deeper water.Diversities o fish and invertebrates are high14, includinga particularly high richness o filter eeding invertebrates(e.g. sponges, gorgonians, sot corals, ascidians, bryozoans,hydroids and seawhips), a large range o unusual red algalspecies37, and many fish species more typical o the deepwater habitats o Tasmania’s east coast145.

Ninepin Point at the mouth o the Huon Estuary isstrongly influenced by tannin inputs, and includes a largespectacular rocky ree dissected by numerous gutters andscattered with large boulders145. More than 200 species

o algae have been recorded, making it one o the mostdiverse sites or marine plants in Tasmania, and highlydiverse by world standards. The community also containsmore algal species classified as ‘rare’ than any othersite in Tasmania plus several endemic red algae that areentirely confined to this area41. Offshore rom NinepinPoint and within the Huon Estuary channel there areseveral isolated rees that provide deep, tannin-influencedand requently ast-current conditions –highly restrictedhabitats in Tasmania. One o the most unique sites isButts Ree, which includes deeper ree habitat than thenearby Ninepin Point and supports diverse invertebrate

communities and rare algae, including new species yetto be described. Further away rom the estuary mouth,Zuidipool Rock and Arch Rock are also influenced bythe stained Huon waters, and contain similarly uniquecommunities; or example Arch Rock supports populationso at least five rare algal species, each recorded rom lessthan five sites across their entire known ranges41.

Magnificent Hydroid (Ralpharia magnifica)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Yellow sponge (Darwinella sp.)(Photograph: © Neville Barrett).

Southern Basket Star (Conocladus australis) attached to sea whips(Photograph: © Sue Wragge).




Locations and habitats o unique sites near the entrance to theHuon Estuary (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and

Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania).

Depth profile or the entrance to the Huon Estuary, illustrating thepresence o a complex series o channels and basins that result

in highly variable currents (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Instituteor Marine and Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania; utilisingmultibeam sonar bathymetry data (Nichol et al. 2009146)).

High Value Sites – Bruny Island Headlands(Roberts Point, Simpsons Point) and Tinderbox

These sites lie within the sheltered waters o theD’Entrecasteaux Channel in an area extending between thedistinctive Derwent and Huon river systems. Water clarityis intermediate to the tannin-influenced waters o theHuon and the clearer oceanic waters towards the south oBruny Island37, providing unique environmental conditionsand hence unusual marine communities. Small populationso the Wonder Cowry (Umbilia hesitata) – one o the largest,

most ancient and beautiul o the cowries – occur inshallow depths where they can be enjoyed by divers, whilstelsewhere in Australia this species is only known romdeepwater trawl samples53.

The Wonder Cowry appears to have become extinct rommany other locations in Tasmania and south-east Australia,adding to the high value o local populations.

Southern White Spot Octopus (Octopus bunurong),Tinderbox (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Wonder Cowry (Umbilia hesitata) occurs at unusually shallowdepth at Roberts Point (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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Further south, Simpsons Point and a rocky outcrop 500 mto its west experience high currents and reduced waterclarity, resulting in the replacement o typical shallow-water kelp beds with ragile invertebrate communitiesand delicate red algae usually limited to much deeperwaters37. Diverse gardens o invertebrates includeseawhips, sponges, gorgonians, sot corals, bryozoans,and hydroids, while a potentially endangered endemicred alga (Crouania brunyana) has only been recorded at

Simpsons Point and Tinderbox41.

Tinderbox is located at the northern entrance o theD’Entrecasteaux Channel and provides a wide rangeo marine habitats in shallow sheltered waters, andthereore has high value as an easily accessed studyarea or education and research145. Rocky sandstone reeextends up to 100 m offshore and drops in a series o rockplatorms, providing caves and other structurally complexhabitats that are home to a remarkable diversity oseaweeds, iconic fishes such as the Weedy Seadragon, anda rich community o invertebrates scavenging or grazingamongst the luxuriant algal growth. The rees extend

out to sand and seagrass beds that urther increase thediversity o fish and invertebrate communities.

Depth profile at the northern entrance to the D’EntrecasteauxChannel, illustrating the presence o a deep narrow channel south oTinderbox which provides habitats or a diverse range o filter eedinginvertebrates (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and

Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania; utilising multibeam sonarbathymetry data (Nichol et al. 2009146)).

High Value Site – Pitt Water / Orielton Lagoon

Pitt Water is a unique open estuary within the BrunyBioregion that has been subject to considerable humandisturbance but nevertheless has a host o importantnatural values that have persisted and simply cannotbe overlooked. Included is an internationally significantRamsar wetland that is particularly important ormigratory shorebirds such as the Endangered EasternCurlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, CurlewSandpiper and Red-necked Stint147. The mudflats in BarillaBay and Orielton Lagoon are primary eeding areas orresident and migratory shorebirds147, while additionalmudflats to the south at Five Mile Beach have recordedthe highest densities o benthic invertebrates in south-east Tasmania, averaging at more than 11,000 animals perm2 79. Pitt Water is also noted as being one o the mostsignificant areas o saltmarsh in Tasmania and contains arange o threatened plant species88,147.

This estuary has been designated a Shark Reuge Area,with studies revealing Upper Pitt Water to be the mostsignificant pupping ground or commercial School Sharksin the state50. Extensive seagrass beds dominated byeelgrasses in Lower Pitt Water provide additional nurseryhabitat or sharks and other fish species148, while rockyshores support the largest population o the endemic andThreatened Live-bearing Seastar 149. The relatively deep andnarrow entrance to this estuary is characterised by strongcurrents and contains beds o sponges and other filtereeding invertebrates48.

The diverse seabed habitats in Pitt Water and Orielton Lagoon(Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and AntarcticStudies, University o Tasmania).




High Value Sites – Tasman Peninsula South and EastCoasts (Fortescue Bay – Waterfall Bay, Hippolyte Rocksand Port Arthur)

The picturesque Tasman Peninsula includes magnificentcoastal scenery above the water that is equally reflectedbelow, represented by some o the largest areas o complexsubtidal ree in Tasmania42. The coastline rom FortescueBay to Waterall Bay and including Hippolyte Rockscontains near pristine habitats and is renowned as a worldclass diving destination due to its clear waters, spectacular

sea cliffs, unique cave systems, steep drop offs and diversemarine lie145. The continental shel break occurs unusuallyclose to shore, providing habitat or deepwater speciessuch as the Southern Bluefin Tuna and Albacore15. Someree habitats extend to 100 m depth and are subject tohigh currents, resulting in rich sponge gardens that startat about 33 m in the clear waters o this region37. Sub-maximally exposed habitats to around 20 m support someo the most persistent and important orests o Giant Kelpin Tasmania, while this region also contains populationso Threatened endemic handfishes114 and commerciallyimportant species including Blacklip Abalone, Southern

Rock Lobster, and Striped Trumpeter. The spectacularsea caves in Waterall Bay support complex invertebrateassemblages dominated by colourul sponges, sot corals,bryozoans, ascidians, zoanthids and anemones145. Offshore,the Hippolyte Rocks are surrounded by clear watersand deep rees dominated by sot red algae below 35 mand diverse sponge gardens below 50 m15. They providean important haul-out site or the Australian Fur Sealand associated hunting ground or the Vulnerable GreatWhite Shark 145, as well as breeding habitat or numerousseabirds36.

Within a small area, Port Arthur contains a particularly

high representation o the habitats within the BrunyBioregion, having a highly varied geology and waveexposures ranging rom moderate through to verysheltered37. Rocky ree habitats support an estimated 219species o algae, a diversity only known to be surpassed bythe Tamar Estuary in the Boags Bioregion41, as well as largeand persistent Giant Kelp beds. Rees are supplementedby areas o deep silty sand to 50 m depth in the middle othe port, hard shelly patches and large gravel/cobble bedswhich urther add to the diversity o habitats available37.

Depth profiling the Waterall Bay–Fortescue Bay–Hippolytes area hasrevealed the presence o very deep waters close to the coast, and anumber o interesting seabed eatures including massive dolerite andgranite blocks 10–30 m high orming isolated mounds and ridges146.This region includes some o the largest areas o complex subtidalree in Tasmania42 (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marineand Antarctic Studies, University o Tasmania; utilising multibeamsonar bathymetry data146).

Scuba diver in Giant Kelp orest, Fortescue Bay(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Ziebell’s (/Waterall Bay) Handfish (Brachiopsilus ziebelli)(Photograph: © Karen Gowlett-Holmes).



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6.8. FREYCINET BIOREGION –DAZZLING SAPPHIRE COAST

Tasmania’s beautiul east coast, renowned or itscontrasting orange-hued granite rocks, white sandybeaches and dazzling aquamarine waters, alls withinthe Freycinet Bioregion named ater its most prominentcoastal eature, the Freycinet Peninsula126. The spectacularcoastal scenery o this region has received internationalattention, with the breathtaking Wineglass Bay and Bayo Fires voted as amongst the best beaches in the world.This bioregion is characterised by warm temperate

influences, a moderate tidal range, an exposed coastlinewith approximately equal areas o rocky headlands andsandy beaches, and numerous coastal lagoons. MariaIsland on the central coast has recorded the highest reebiodiversity in Tasmania6, while the north-east estuarieshave rich invertebrate and fish communities14. The geologyo the region is variable, dominated by Carbonierousgranite in the north and Jurassic dolerite to the south16,with Schouten Island-Freycinet Peninsula recording thegreatest proportion o ‘high profile’ or structurally complexree in Tasmania42. The Freycinet Bioregion has two MarineProtected Areas, Governor Island at Bicheno and Maria

Island, with a combined size o 15.6 km2

– two thirds owhich is ully protected as ‘no take’.

This bioregion is influenced by the warm East AustralianCurrent (EAC)131, particularly on the north east coast. As a result, biological communities are highly variable,with many fish and other species present in the northernsection but absent rom the south. These include warmtemperate species that are common in NSW such as theWhite-ear Scalyfin and Eastern Rock Blackfish, as wellas the Hollow-spined Urchin (Centrostephanus rodgersii),Giant Rock Barnacle ( Austromegabalanus nigrescens) andEastern King Prawn (Penaeus plebejus). Some fish species

ound here also occur in the Furneaux Group, but cannotbe seen anywhere else around the Tasmanian mainlandcoast14. The Freycinet Bioregion also contains some veryrare habitats or marine species, such as the Native FlatOyster which was very abundant in southern Australiaprior to 19th century harvesting. The region is significantin supporting the most northerly orests o the Giant Kelp(Macrocystis pyrifera), a cold-water species that orms majorbeds along the Tasmanian east and south-east coasts.Barred, low salinity estuaries or ‘lagoons’ are highlycharacteristic o this region, with 14 o these shelteredwaterbodies recorded along the east coast71, includingsome that are intermittently closed to the sea14. These

lagoons and adjacent beach habitats are important ormigratory shorebirds, particularly Greenshank, RuddyTurnstone, Double-banded Plover, Red-necked Stint, PacificGolden Plover, and Sanderling113.

Corded Siphon Shell (Siphonaria funiculata)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Velvet Leatherjacket (Meuschenia scaber ), Bicheno(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

Clarrie’s Hermit Crab (Pagurixus handrecki)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




High Value Site – Schouten Island and Passage

Schouten is a rugged and spectacular island surroundedby cliffs and sheltered to moderately exposed bays, andseparated rom the mainland by a 1.6 km wide, deeppassage42. A high diversity o pristine marine habitats issupplemented by highly variable geology, with a north-south ault line dividing an eastern granite component,

which is similar to the north-east coast, rom a westerndolerite section, which is more similar to the south-east othe state36. Structurally complex rees include underwaterextensions o sea cliffs and have highly variable wave-exposures and depths, some extending to 70 m42. Theadditional presence o seagrass beds comprised o theBlack-stemmed Eelgrass (Heterozostera nigricaulis) indepths o 5-15 m, patchy ree intermixed with cobbles,and extensive areas o unvegetated sand add to thehabitat diversity o the island. Beds o the Giant Kelp onthe southern and western sides o the island are amongstthe ew truly persistent beds in the central-north east

region42,9

, and are thereore o high conservation value.While algae dominate shallow waters, providing up to 80%cover in depths less than 30 m, sponge habitat increasesbelow 30 m and dominates below 40 m42 providing adiverse and brightly coloured invertebrate community.

Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis),Schouten Passage (Photograph: © Aquenal).

The island also provides breeding habitat or the LittlePenguin and Short-tailed Shearwater, while offshorespecies such as the Australasian Gannet and Vulnerable

Shy Albatross are observed in the area36. Australian FurSeals haul-out on the eastern side o the island, andSouthern Right Whales enter the passage during theirseasonal migration150.

High Value Site – Ile des Phoques

Ile des Phoques is a small rocky island between Mariaand Schouten islands, about 20 km east o the Tasmanianmainland. It is unique in possessing numerous seacaves36, some that run right through the island and arethereore distinct rom the blind (i.e. one way) sea cavesound elsewhere on the Tasmanian coastline38. This

means that there is a high water flow through the caves,providing a rich supply o plankton that sustains a diversecommunity o filter eeding invertebrates. The main deepcave is pitch black in the middle, and thereore providesor deepwater emergence o a range o species usuallyound at greater depths, including hard and sot coralsand even some deepwater crustaceans such as slipperlobsters38,53. Several caves have light entering throughthe roo creating stunning light effects that, combinedwith the brightly coloured jewel anemones and zoanthids(anemone-like animals) covering the cave, and requentschools o fish, provide spectacular underwater scenery.

The caves are considered to be o outstanding geologicalsignificance36, and are quite unlike any other marine cavesystem in Tasmania.

The eastern side o Ile des Phoques is also a regularhaul-out site or Australian Fur Seals36, and geologicalevidence suggests that it once supported a large sealbreeding colony. The island remains a breeding siteor seabirds, including Little Penguins, Short-tailedShearwaters, Fairy Prions and Common Diving-Petrels36.Ecotourism activities are centred around seal watchingand spectacular cave diving.

Longsnout Boarfish (Pentaceropsis recurvirostris)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).



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High Value Site – Georges Bay Native Oyster Reef

The Native Flat Oyster (Ostrea angasi) ree in Georges Bay(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The Native Flat Oyster (Ostrea angasi) was once soabundant in southern Australian waters that it ormedlarge rees several metres high that dominated the

seabed within estuaries and sheltered bays. In the late19th century, these rees provided a major ood source orthe population o Hobart and other parts o Tasmania;however heavy exploitation and disease destroyed all Australian rees o this species53, with the exception o asingle ree in Georges Bay on the east coast o Tasmania.Native Flat Oysters do occur in other areas, such as theD’Entrecasteaux Channel o southern Tasmania and partso Victoria; however in these areas the oysters only ormsmall clumps or individuals associated with sot sediments.In Georges Bay, the oysters still orm a consolidated‘biogenic’ (i.e. produced by living organisms) structureelevated above the seabed – the only true native oysterree remaining in southern Australia28. The ree consistso three major beds, which together have been estimatedto support approximately 780,000 oysters151, and are ocritical significance or the conservation o native oysterhabitat122,123.

Southern Jewel Anemone (Corynactis australis)(Photograph: © Sue Wragge).

High Value Site – Maria Island

The north-west coastline o Maria Island on Tasmania’scentral east coast orm part o the beautiul Maria IslandNational Park and has a remarkable diversity o marinehabitats within a small area (rock, sand, seagrass, kelporest, and dolerite, siltstone, sandstone, granite andlimestone ree habitats) as well as the highest diversity

o ree lie in the state6,126. In Fossil Bay to the north, largesubmarine caverns and tunnels extend up to 40 m intothe limestone cliffs, with Bull Kelp and other wave-lovingkelps the most obvious plants, while the more shelteredwestern shore supports delicate algal species and consistso dolerite ormations interspersed with cobbled andwhite sand beaches. Offshore, rees support orests o themagnificent Giant Kelp, and expansive beds o seagrasscover the sandy seafloor extending into Mercury Passage145.

Garden o sponges, sea whips and other sessile invertebrates(Photograph: © Sue Wragge).

Shaw’s Cowfish ( Arcana aurita)(Photograph: © Sue Wragge)




The rees support high abundances o Rock Lobstersand fish such as Bastard Trumpeter, Jackass and Bandedmorwongs, Barber Perch, and Rosy Wrasse, while fishspecies rom the Australian mainland ollow warm oceancurrents to the northern end o Maria Island in summermonths, and are rarely observed urther south. Protectedseahorses and Weedy Seadragons are commonly sighted,while ascinating species such as Warty Prowfish andRed Velvetfish are hidden amongst sponges and algae,

and seagrass beds provide an important nursery or theSouthern Calamary60. The pylons o the popular jetty divesite as well as other shaded and deeper sites support anarray o colourul invertebrates including sponges, eather-like hydroids, bright zoanthids, tube worms, and jewelanemones in many different colours145.

The marine lie o Maria Island depicting some o the speciestypical o sheltered and exposed habitats(Source: Parks and Wildlie Service, Tasmania).

Diverse ree, seagrass and sandy habitats o the northeast tip o MariaIsland (Source: SEAMAP Tasmania – Institute or Marine and AntarcticStudies, University o Tasmania).

Rocky shore, Maria Island(Photograph: © Karen Parsons).



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High Value Site – Governor Island

Governor Island is located less than 200 m off the coastat Bicheno. Its clear deep waters provide yet anothero Australia’s top diving sites, with easy access to deep

rees that extend to 45 m depth and experience strongocean currents, characteristics that are rare so close toshore. Coarse-grained granite bedrock orms large blocksand boulders, sheer vertical walls, ledges, overhangs,and deep fissures, while small caves create spectacularunderwater scenery that is best viewed in winter whenreduced phytoplankton growth results in visibilities otenexceeding 30 m145.

Shallow areas o ree are dominated by kelps, whileshaded and deeper areas are occupied by diverse ‘spongegardens’ including sea whips, sea ans, hydroids,bryozoans, anemones, ascidians, sponges, eather stars,

and basket stars. Vertical and over-hanging rock walls arecovered with a brilliant mosaic o yellow zoanthids anddifferent coloured colonies o jewel anemones. In deepsandy trenches, huge sponges crowd onto occasionalboulders, while conspicuous mobile invertebratesinclude rock lobsters, abalone, octopus and brightlycoloured sea-spiders (or ‘pycnogonids’) eeding amongstdelicate bryozoans145. Fish are also abundant, includingButterfly Perch, Longsnout Boarfish and Zebrafish, whilecaves are crowded with bullseyes, cardinal fish, codand Sandpaperfish. At certain times o the year, largesilver schools o the Common Jack Mackerel swirl past,

sometimes hunted by schools o dolphins. GovernorIsland is also an important seabird rookery and containsone o Tasmania’s largest breeding populations o theCrested Tern145.

This dainty pycnogonid or ‘sea spider’ (Pseudopallene ambigua)clinging to eather hydroids is a characteristic species within thewaters surrounding Governor Island (Photograph: © Graham Edgar).

The marine lie o Governor Island depicting some o the typicalanimals and plants encountered (Source: Parks and WildlieService, Tasmania).

Black-lined Sea Hare ( Aplysia parvula)(Photograph: © Graham Edgar).




6.9. MACQUARIE ISLAND PROVINCE –

SUBANTARCTIC WILDLIFE JEWEL

The Macquarie Island Province orms one o only twosubantarctic biological provinces in Australia, andconsists only o Macquarie Island and its associated isletsthat represent an extremely isolated ragment o themid-oceanic Macquarie Ridge that is raised above sealevel131. It possesses a distinctive subantarctic flora andauna that shares little similarity with other regions oTasmania or Australia, and a high proportion o endemicalgal and invertebrate species. Strongest shallow-wateraffinities are with other subantarctic areas, rom whichnumerous plants and animals have probably arrived viathe Antarctic Circumpolar Current131. The remarkableconservation values o this province are reflected bythe attributes o the marine environment o MacquarieIsland, an area ully contained within a Marine Protected Area and providing a remote wildlie reuge in the middleo the Southern Ocean.

High Value Site – Macquarie Island

Rugged coastline o Macquarie Island(Photograph: © Kerry Steinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).

Located 1,500 km south-east o the Tasmanian mainlandis Macquarie Island, our subantarctic wildlie ‘jewel’which has been recognised as one o the most importantsites or marine conservation in the world. This remoteand dramatic island is internationally renowned or itsgeological, ecological and scientific values and is listed asa World Heritage Area, and a site on the National Heritage

Register 1. It is geologically significant or being the onlyisland in the world composed entirely o oceanic crust androcks originating rom the deep mantle, up to 6 km belowthe earth’s surace. The Macquarie Ridge Complex is one othe world’s great oceanic ridges which extends underwateror 1,600 km and only rises to the surace at MacquarieIsland95,99. As a result o its unique geological origins, theisland’s coastline is rugged and predominantly rocky,bounded on all sides by steep slopes that drop off quicklyinto deep waters a short distance rom the shore.

Macquarie Island has outstanding significance or theconservation o biodiversity and is one o the world’s

largest subantarctic seal and bird breeding grounds99,152.The estimated 3.5 million breeding seabirds and 100,000breeding seals ound there include more than 40 speciessustained by ood resources in rich subantarctic waters17,99.

Rugged coastline and Royal Penguins (Eudyptes schlegeli)(Photograph: © Kerry Steinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).

A total o 27 seabird species and five seal species recordedat Macquarie Island are listed as Threatened at stateor national levels, with 16 orming breeding colonies,including our albatrosses, six petrels, two penguins,one tern and three seals95. O the extensive seabirdcongregations, a large proportion belong to our species

o penguins, including hal a million Royal Penguins99 that represent the only breeding colony o this species inthe world35. Four species o albatrosses breed in smallernumbers, with nesting sites or the Wandering and Grey-headed albatrosses being entirely restricted to this islandwithin Australia, and listed as Nationally Critical Habitat.Macquarie also supports particularly impressive colonieso 70–80,000 Endangered Southern Elephant Seals andis the stronghold or this species in Australian waters99,with conflicts between the massive bulls one o the morememorable sights on the island!

The beautiul and Endangered Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarchechysostoma) at Macquarie Island, individual and with chick(Photographs: © Christo Baars, Australian Antarctic Division).



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Colony o King Penguins ( Aptenodytes patagonicus)(Photograph: © Kerry Steinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).

The seals and majority o seabirds derive all o theirood directly rom the sea, with krill, squid and fishparticularly important in the ood chain99,153. The fishauna at Macquarie Island includes at least 33 cold waterspecies, including the ‘myctophids’ that comprise thesecond largest biological resource (ater Antarctic Krill) inthe Southern Ocean. A high diversity o squid is reflected

by identification o nearly 20 species in the stomachso breeding albatrosses and Southern Elephant Seals99.The rocky intertidal and shallow subtidal areas o thecoast support extensive and luxuriant growth o algae(seaweeds), with the 103 recorded species reflecting avery high diversity compared with other subantarcticislands. These algae, including the conspicuous Giant Antarctic Kelp that covers intertidal rocks and growsin dense offshore beds, provide habitat or invertebratecommunities characterised by high levels o endemismand species diversity. The molluscs are the best knowngroup, with many o the 74 species identified not known

to occur anywhere else. The uniqueness o nearshorecommunities is not surprising given that they occur inone o very ew shallow habitats in thousands o squarekilometres o ocean99.

The marine lie o Macquarie Island depicting a range o organismsound at different depths (Source: National Oceans Office 2002153).

Endangered Antarctic Tern (Sterna vittata)

(Photograph: © Evan Jones, Australian Antarctic Division).

Hookers Sea Lion (Phocarctos hookeri), back, and Southern ElephantSeal (Mirounga leonina) at Macquarie Island (Photograph: © Gavin

Johnstone, Australian Antarctic Division).




7. CONCLUSIONS

Tasmania’s marine environment is truly unique andcontains a diversity o ecosystems and temperate marinelie orms that is amongst the highest in the world. Frommagnificent Giant Kelp orests to luxuriant seagrass

meadows, globally unique tannin-stained estuaries, ancientrelic species, Critically Endangered fish, pristine seabirdislands and a myriad o other productive habitats andrare species, our small island state is a hotspot or diversemarine communities and important conservation values.

The unique ecological attributes o Tasmanian marineenvironments are evident at various spatial scales,as demonstrated by statewide, bioregional and sitedescriptions in this report, while significant species andrare eatures o particular ecosystems may be widelydispersed or cross bioregional boundaries. The physicalattributes o the sea and seabed around Tasmania make

it unique within Australia, as summarised below, withthis physical rarity reflected in the unique structure obiological communities:

• A disproportionately long and highly complex coast,with Tasmania accounting or only 0.9% o Australia’sarea and yet 8.2% o its coastline, and includingnumerous estuaries and embayments and more than6,000 islands and smaller rocky islets;

• A very wide diversity o coastal landorms and

submarine topography, and a complex geology thatis exceptionally well exposed on the coast, includesthe oldest rock types in eastern Australia and is moresimilar to Antarctica than other parts o Australia;

• Extreme variation in wave exposure due to a highlyindented coast, with waves impacting rom everydirection unlike in other states in Australia, andincorporating the only section o Australian coast lyingin the path o the Roaring 40s gales;

• A high level o tidal variation due to the Bass Strait sheland associated islands creating a larger tidal range inthe north than experienced in the south;

Southern Elephant Seals fighting (Photograph: © Kerry Steinberner, Australian Antarctic Division).



96

• A diverse range o oceanographic influences, withTasmania located at the meeting point o three majoroceanographic currents that result in mixing o watersand marine species rom warm nutrient poor areasto the north and west with cold nutrient rich areasto the south; and thereore representing the northerngeographical limits or species o subantarctic origin,and at the same time the southern limits or a range owarm temperate species;

• Upwellings o cold, nutrient-rich subantarctic waterin the vicinity o Tasmania resulting in higher nutrientlevels than in more northern parts o Australia, akey contributor to our high marine productivity,distinctive ‘cool temperate’assemblages, and presenceo subantarctic influences absent rom mainland Australia;

• A temperate marine location that has beengeographically and climatically isolated rom othertemperate systems or around 65 million years, leadingto levels o marine diversity and ‘endemism’ (i.e.species unique to the region) that are amongst thehighest in the world; and including some o the mosthighly localised marine species in the world – withsome only recorded at one site or limited to one or twoestuaries;

• Unusually large areas o pristine habitat aroundthe mainland coast (west, south-west), as well asundisturbed estuaries and islands that provide reugesor wildlie and globally unique marine communities;

• Exceptionally wide diversity o estuarine habitattypes, due to a steep south-west to north-east rainallgradient and high geological diversity, with all majorgeomorphological types o estuaries other than fords

represented;

• A higher diversity and number o wetlands andinternationally important bird sites relative to its sizethan any other Australian state, and unique locationat the most southerly extremity o the East Asian- Australasian Flyway or migratory shorebirds;

• A remarkable hotspot or seabird activity that includesthe only nationally listed Critical Habitats or marinespecies (albatross species), and stronghold populationso Endangered seals.

As a result o the above actors and associated outstanding

diversity o marine habitats and communities, Tasmaniahas a very high number o bioregions relative to its size,based on major changes in marine species compositionaround our coast. The most distinctive eatures o eachbioregion have been reported elsewhere17,126,131 and henceare not summarised again here, however this paperdescribes additional common characteristics within eachthat urther illustrate their unique characters and values.The attributes o specific high conservation value siteswith each bioregion are variable and include eaturessuch as: complex cave systems; a high diversity o habitatswithin a small area; close proximity o the continental

shel and hence representation o deepwater auna;high diversity o migratory shorebirds; extensive spongegardens at unusually shallow depths; breeding habitat orEndangered species, and so the list goes on.

Sites described in this paper were identified as havinghigh natural values on the basis o various criteria suchas uniqueness, representativeness, ecological importance,productivity and naturalness. The sites listed include some‘stand out’ examples o high ecological values, but do notconsider additional actors such as social and economicvalues, and are not intended to provide an exhaustive orrigorously assessed list o important areas.

Identification o habitats that denote a high natural valueby virtue o their rarity can be summarised rom exampleso unique ecosystems in this report, while descriptions osignificant species contribute to the identification o areaso high ecological importance and national/internationalsignificance. Together, these provide a general guide tohotspots or high ecological values in Tasmania’s marineenvironment, as outlined below:

• Structurally complex rees with unique geology (e.g.outcrops o rare rock types);

• High current habitats supporting shallow water‘sponge gardens’ (e.g. protruding headlands, restricted

channels);

• Deep rees located unusually close to shore;

• Large and persistent Giant Kelp beds;

• Large and persistent seagrass beds;

• Unusually deep seagrass beds;

• Native oyster ree habitat;

• Tannin estuaries that provide or species ‘compression’or ‘deepwater emergence’ whereby marine speciesoccur in shallower waters than normally encountered;

• Combinations o the above may be o particularly highvalue (e.g. a tannin estuary with high currents and deeprees);

• Marine environments surrounding Australian Fur Sealbreeding habitats;

• Sites supporting internationally significant numbers oshorebirds or seabirds;

• Habitats that support discrete populations oThreatened species, or are o current or growingimportance as sites or Threatened migratory species(e.g. Endangered Southern Right Whale).

The above is certainly not intended as a ‘completed’ listo unique and high value marine habitats in Tasmania.However, in conjunction with the examples o highecological value sites within each bioregion, it does attemptto identiy some o the very special areas that are worthyo representation within our MPA system as it grows tomeet national and international targets. Further work todefine the specific attributes o the rare marine habitatsidentified in this report may also enable their considerationin supplementary legislative instruments ocussed onprotection o particular habitats at a statewide level.




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