ASFB Home > The effects of spatial and temporal factors on the abundance of seven key finfish species along south-western Australia.

An interactive database for information on the distribution and ecology of larval fish

Tony Miskiewicz, B Bruce, Anthony Miskiewicz, F Neira and A Jordan

Wollongong City Council, WOLLONGONG, AUSTRALIA

THEME: ASFB

Larval fish research in southern Australian waters has expanded greatly over the last 10-15 years, resulting in the collection of thousands of samples over broad areas of coastal and offshore waters. These samples contain a wealth of information on the early life history of many species. Yet most of the information is still locked in the samples because the study that collected them either targeted a minor subset of what was caught, or much of the material could not be identified. With the recent publication of the Larvae of Temperate Australian Fishes larval fish guide and the Australian Museum led archive of larval fish material, much of this information can now be unlocked. Our study is identifying larvae from these samples, coupling it with concurrently collected ecological data and storing it in an interactive ACCESS database. This will allow researchers to rapidly assess what information has already been collected across southern Australia. Information stored in the database concentrates on shelf and offshore plankton samples collected in South-east Australian waters primarily by CSIRO, TAFI and MAFRI since 1984. This poster illustrates some of the outputs as well as demonstrating a copy of the database.