TasNat_1924_Vol1_No1_pp1-4_Lord_FishFaunaTasmania.pdf

7/30/2019 TasNat_1924_Vol1_No1_pp1-4_Lord_FishFaunaTasmania.pdf

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mbe m a ~ m a n t a n ~ a t u r a l i ~ tTHE JOURNAL OF THE

Tasmanian Field Naturalists' ClubNew Series-Vot. I. OCTOBER, 1924. No. 1.

Fish Fauna 0/ TasmaniaThe flsh of Tasmania are ot interest,to the Southern position of ourin some ways, fol'!Il1 aUnk between the fauna ofand the subantarctlc regions.In the grouping of the greater diof the zoological kingdom the(Ph:;ces) form the lowest rlasFI ofe vertebrates, or backbone animals,tht:' lancelets. which arA oftenwith the fishes. realy form at l1J1ecting link between the inverteand the vertebrates.Lancelets are small -semi-transparentanimals found burowing in theThey are from 30 to 40 mm. longd nr, wlth.Jut brain. cra.nium. orA c.ollsi"!el'ahle advancement in d e ~

11' shown by the lampreYR,arc cold-blooded vertebrates wit.hut limus or skulls. The mouth l a c l ~ . s and Is in the form of a suctorio.1Both the !,>hortheaded and thelamprey occur in Tasmania.

Shark. Species.Above the lampreys are the sharkswhich are distinguished byof a bony skeleton. the abof the true fish-Uke scales, and thethe five to seven gin openwhich are on the sides. The memof this order constitute the larger

fishes, representatives offound all over the world. Theand the one-finned shark.Jackson, wobbegong or carpetcollared cat s.hark. varied catcat shark. swell flhark,

prickly dog fish, whilst two varieties ofthe peculiar saw sharks kre met with.The angel shark. with Its fiat depr.s9ed body, approaches, In some respeci8,the members of the next order, the rays.Rays (Bat.oldea) are Immediately dlstingulRhed from sharks by the dlsclIkefm'm of the body and the fact that the

gill opentngs are on the under surface.Tasmanian repn'f'lentatlves of this orderinclude s u ( ~ h species as the fiddler, Taf'l'mnnian numb fish. rough-backed skate,thorn-backed skatc. smooth stlngaree,handed stingaree, green-hacked s t l n g a ~ree, sandy-backed stlngaree and the>Rllle (or whtDtail) ray_Ghost !/hark.. (Holocephali) "re distingui8"hed, apart 'rom their peculiarform, owing to the fact that they havebut one external gin opening. They alsopOH:ileRS an erectilE ciorz.ml sllille. The

peculiar elephant fish is the more commouTasmanian representative of the order,but tJhe ghost oh .."k also "ppears here.~ ; i s h e 8 pr-oper are distinguished fromt.he sharks, rays, etc., by tlie presence oftit( operculum. or gill cO\cr. The firstdh-isiol1 contains the t r ( ) u t - 1 i h ~ fisheA sHchas herrings, etc. Certain species of cosmopolitan range ,He grouped within thiHorder, and in' the future certain of theseshould prove of great economic impoftance, ns they are practi-caHy identicalwith European forms which are regarded

as of great value.Australian Anchovy.'l'he Australian anchovy is practicalJyidentical with t'be European form. Thepelagic sprats. both the blue and the


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTabout a filot or eighteen inches inwiiJh cylindrimJ body. and a

overhanging snout with twoThe ; 'Ilyt.il is a weIl-knwn form cornan ID estuaries and creeks. ThttjoHy-taiJ is a varitty.are reaHy minnows,d represent the Sa.lmonldae In the in ..fish fauna. of Tasmania.n the lakes and the higher reachesthe fresh water streams the jolly.give p1ace to the spotted mountainThe lake trout. which occurs ine Great Lake and t.he other lakes and

a t high altitude, is a varietythe spotted trout.he order under review Includefil R a l ~trout. etc., and many forms whichbeen Introduced from other counAs exa.mples of 8 p e e l ~ s whl chbeen introduced into Tasmanianthe following may be mentionbrown trout, rainbOWLoch Leven trout, salmon trout,brook trout, sebago salmon.salmon, qulnnat salmon.

Tbe Smelt.To return to the Indigenous fauna of

order the Argentine or Slel Rmelt Isobtained during trawlingoff the coast. whlIst the Ausgrayling or ucucumber h e r r i n g ' ~taken on the north-eastI t was very plentiful a t onebut .ts numbers have greatly diThe small species known as'e Derwent smelt (4050 mm.) Is foundthe Derwent. whilst the larger Ta",(60-70 mm.) or "whitealso occurs. #

F'oilowlng the herrings are representaof the order Iniomi. Two speciesto this order have been refrom Tasmania, the cueu'moorwhich was secured by tmwling of!'e Eas t Coast, and the lancet fish. Theis. rare. I t is a. very formidablegrowing up to six feet in lengthd possessing Ha large barracouta-Ukeof teeth." The dorsal fin iselevated and extended.

he following group Includes such fishthe European carp, gold fish. andte-nch, which are not native tor Island. but h8iV6 been Introduced atThe next ~ u p to be considered arce eels, the first order of which emthe pigmy eels. which a,re smallcreatures found under s t o n e s ~ etc

True Eels_The t.ue eels (Apodos) have two gi;]openings nn the Bides. Some species arefound in mland waters. but descend tothe sea to breed, the young returning to

the lakes and rivers. The short-finnedand th e closely allied longfinned eel maybe mentioned in t'his regard. The l a r g ~ r' : l ~ i ' : [ ~ h ~ 8 n ~ ~ t e f O ~ ~ l l d g e ~ : o ' : : i c t h i s c o o ~ ~ ~referred to as t.he silver eel in Tasmania,frequents certain rivers and estuaries.

The minute Tasmanian worm eel hasbeen reeorded fl'om the Ei4'it coast.Following the eeJs is thp. order Soleniehthyp.s, to \\1:1ich b c l o n ~ the sea horses,pipe fish, bellows fish. una other speciesof a like nature. The sea hot'ses aretypical of the present group. They pOSsess a peculiar eJongated tube-like snout.The hody is often encased in a seriesof bony r i n ~ s . Several kinds of sea horsesare met WIth, including the leafy Benhorse. A point of interest i . that themale has a pouch and carries the eggsabout after they have been deposited bythe female.Bellows Flsh.

Three species o f Bel10ws fiSh ha.vebeen recorded from T a ~ m a n J a . all ofwhich possess an elongated snout andtwo dorRal fins, the anterior one beingcompressed into a spine.r.rhe Pipe fishes, which are closely rt:::-lated to the sea horses. are common in"l"asmanlan waters half a dozen ormore species having hcen descrihed. Belonging to thls order is the Opah. agiant sea fish. One specimen has beenrecorded from Tasmania, and la now inthe 'l."asRmnian Museum.A.lthough fnel uded In a separate ordPJ'

the Dragon fishes approach the prevlous group In that their bodies are encased in bony rInga. The snout Is alsoproduced, but it lacks the tubelike proceSs of the Pipe fishes. The Dragon flshIs a small species 50 to 90 mm. longfound in many places such as among:.ne shallows o f the Derwent estuary. ItIs occaRionally taken In 8caJiop d r e d g ~ s .Following the Dragon Fish and theGarllsh. are the Rock Cods. WhIptails. etc (Anacanthini). The represen-tatives of this latter group have notrue spines in the vertebral fins. Rocl{Cod are extrt:-mely common in manylocalities. but fishermen, as a rule, donot d1stingujRb between the three ape-des met with. I t must also be remembered that In New South Wales the fiShthere called the Rock Cod In the ver


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTconstitute par t of a family of deepfishes. they are seldom taken exby tra wlers.

The next order embraces the Doriesd other similar fish es. whilst followthese are the nibbon Fish. Bothgreat Oal' Fish and the Ribbon'ish havE' IJeen recorded from TasThey ar(- pcculiar-Iooklng fisheel-JiJ


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALISTclassification, most fishes having the folJowing:-A fin on the back known as th e dorsal fin.A ta i lor caudal fin.

An anal fin situated on th e underside just in advance of the tail.A pectoral fin situs,ted on the sid.iust behind the opercle.The ventral fin situated on th e lowerside of the body usually a little belowthe pectoral fin; bu t in some of thelower fish the ventral fin is far behindthe pectora"'.The ventors]. and pectorals are bothpaired; that is to Bay, there is a fin ofsimilar shape on each side of the bodywhile iu so-me fishes th e dorsal fiu isdivided into sever-al divisiolls or therpmay be one or more dorsals.Again, portions of the fins may differin character) some being separa led bymeans of spines, and some by means ofmore flexible supports.

Sharks and Rays,The sharks and rays, al though differng consIderably In general appearance,re grouped together in the same orderor the reason that they are seen to belosely related when examined in dei l . Moreover. there js a connectingink between the sharks and the rays

t th e peculiat'-shaped Angel Sharkhieh Is occasionally taken in TaBanlan waters. The whole fish claSRisces) Is easily separated Into two diI.dom, of which the sharks form the,."t and the bony Hshes the second,The characteristics ot the Hrst dlvln are the absence of the bony 8kele-

ton. Its place being taken by cartilege.,the absence of the ollercle and similarbones of the head, and the presence ofpaired claspers in the male.A connecting link between the sharkBand the bony fishes Is provided by t i l l :

Hub-class HoIoeephaU, under which aregrouped the peculiar glephant Sharks.' rhe Elephant Shark Is a comnlon species in Southern Tasmanian waters, antIapart from Its peculiar shape Is easilyrecognIsed owing to the fact that i t hasthe giUs c o n ~ . . e e a l e d under a cartl1igen0118opere)e. Most Tasmanian sha.rks hay!'five separa.te external gi I I openings. butthere are two species, the seven.gilIedand the one-finned shark, in which th enumber'is increased to sc,{'n. In nddiUon to the ordinary g"ill openings thereIs n smaller opening near the eye, generally referred to as the spiracle. whichenables the fish to breathe when ttRmouth is burrowed in the sand or otherwise occupied.

Sharks and rays are hl the main preuaceous fishes. and as a consequent.ethey are wen adapted for thefr methodof Ufe, The teeth vary great ly in number and shape and placed in rows.which are continually growing outwards. so that a lost set of teeth isquickly replaced. The great majorityof these fishes are vivHparouN. tha t is,the young are brought forth alive. hutcertain of them are oviparous. amongthe latter being the Bull-headed or PortJackson sharks, and some of the smaller Dog Fishes. The flays, whit'il are luthe Ol'dinary SE:'nRe fairly slow movingcreatures. f requent ing the sea hottom,are oviparous. Clive Lord.

Outlines of Tasmanian GeologyPart I.-Geological Processes.Chapter I.-Introductory. The Scienc. 01 Geology.

Section I e o I O t J y . h( lnOf8. We undertake g l eat venturesOeo!Ogy js the great foundation-ston'!IClence. I t teaches us the historyour planet. th e origins ot sea andd, the reasons for OUr many k i n r ~ srocks, how our present scenery w a ~nged, and th e development of lifeits multitudinous forms. I t is tt}edy ot the great out-ot-doors. witbWhole surfaee and interior of the]d for its classroom. We insigllifl-t mortals crawl on the face of thahi and wrangle ;about prices and

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optimistically, or spend our lives coaxing u. few pellce from the unwilling soil.~ , n d we prospet' or fail. Mother earth- tb i s globe we inbabit-given us om'success, or rebuffs us, and the greatcontrolling factOl' ill the lives of eacnand everyone of us is

Environment.High above our politics. OUl ' trade,our wars, mu' petty lives rises this dominating influence. Geology i& the scienceof our environment.

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TasNat_1924_Vol1_No1_pp1-4_Lord_FishFaunaTasmania.pdf