Fact Sheet: Australian National Fish Collection
There is an increasing awareness of the need for ocean and coastal
exploration, and the desire to know more about our marine environments
and their biodiversity. The nationally funded Australian
National Fish Collection (formerly the I.S.R. Munro Fish Collection)
continues to grow under the management of CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric
Research, at its Hobart Laboratories. With an estimated 145,000
specimens, its primary role is as a biodiversity reference and research
tool, rather than a public display.
Oceans Search
As long as research expeditions extend the abilities of marine biologists
to describe and understand the life histories of the ocean’s animals
and plants, the role of collections and the efforts of taxonomists will
continue to be a significant part of marine science.
From the deep ocean reefs and seamounts in the Southern Ocean far beyond
the reach of sunlight to the tropical waterways of northern Australia,
new ecological communities and marine species are being discovered regularly.
There is a perception that the oceans and seas around Australia are well-explored
but scientists disagree. In fact, new species are being discovered at
a faster rate today, than at any time over the previous 200 years.
The lack of information persists on our doorstep. We know more about
the types of fishes living around Antarctica and Heard Island, than about
the fish species found around much of continental Australia.
At ocean depths below 1,500 metres — which is more than 70 per
cent of the entire Australian marine jurisdiction
— hardly anything is known.
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Fish Taxonomy
The practice of preserving fish for scientific study dates back to 17th
century Europe. In more recent times, the development of collections
has provided marine biologists with information on the lifecycles, behaviour,
distribution and biology of represented species, contributing to the
growing bank of scientific knowledge.
Established 60 years ago, the Australian National Fish Collection is
one of the most comprehensive and important reference collections in Australia.
Ian Munro, a former fisheries scientist at CSIRO, started the Collection
while preparing books on fish species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean region.
Judged by the diversity of species it holds, the Collection is among
the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. All specialist collections strive
for quality and diversity. The Collection’s focus on Indo—Pacific
shark and ray, and temperate and Southern Ocean species gives it a pre-eminence
among international collections.
Material has been obtained in many ways — from community studies
and findings, fishers, and expeditions and cruises on survey and research
vessels, notably Fairwind (Papua New Guinea region, 1948-1950),
Stanley Fowler (tropical Australia, 1948-1950), Rama (Gulf
of Carpentaria, 1963-1965), Courageous (1975-1979), Soela
(1979-1989) and Southern Surveyor(1990 to present).
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Marine Biodiversity
Australia has more than 10% of the world’s marine species, including
an estimated 4,500 species of finfish, of which around 3,600 have been
described. About one quarter of the species are only found in the region.
The biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef includes some 1,500 species
of fish. Of the 600 inshore species of finfish in the southern temperate
zone, about 85% are found only in Australian waters. The few surveys conducted
on the upper continental slope (200-400 metres depth) have already discovered
twice the number of species found on similar slopes in the Atlantic, after
decades of extensive surveys by the United States and Europe.
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Reports from an Expedition
In the 1980s, commercial fishers went in pursuit of the ‘ancient’
orange roughy on the deep-ocean plateaus and mountains in the Southern
Ocean. However it was not until 1994 that a team from the Australian Geological
Survey Organisation completed the first detailed survey of their fishing
grounds, which showed a number of extinct volcanoes with cones up to 400
metres high, located some 100 kilometres south of Tasmania at depths between
660 and 1940 metres beneath the sea’s surface.
At about the same time, scientists at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research were conducting
an acoustic survey of the orange roughy fishing grounds. Using the CSIRO
research vessel, Southern Surveyor, scientists conducted three
experimental trawls on lightly fished seamounts to sample the seabed fauna,
producing a surprising haul.
Among the creatures which spilled out onto the sorting tables were several
tonnes of deep-sea coral and a dozen specimens of four previously undescribed
species of fish — two deep-water cod from a genus only previously
found in the South Atlantic and two deep-water lings.
In 1995, Environment Australia, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority
and the fishing industry agreed to provide interim protection to these
seamounts with deep-water reserve status. Another survey aboard Southern
Surveyor followed in 1997. This study of deep-sea life found 37 species
of fish, as well as 259 species of invertebrates (such as corals, seastars
and crabs). About one third of the invertebrates found were new to science
and up to 40% of the new species are thought to only occur in this region.
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The Munro Collection
The 145,000 specimens from 3,000 species (representing 300 fish families)
include oceanic, deep-water, demersal, inshore, estuarine, river and
lake fishes. Most are from Australian waters, but there are also collections
from Papua New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands,
as well as fish from New Zealand, the Antarctic continent and sub-Antarctic
islands, Europe and South-east Asia, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia,
the Philippines and Japan.
The Collection holds 160 holotypes and 1200 paratypes of 280 species
new to science. It also contains a substantial amount of voucher material
relating to published books and papers, illustrations and photographs.
A valuable component of the Collection is the large Photographic Index
of Australian Fishes (PIAF) and the radiographs, which are useful for
detailed bone studies. The Collection also contains hundreds of jars
of ichthyoplankton (fish eggs and larval fish), some of which are unsorted,
and collections of otoliths (ear bones, for determining the age of fish).
A computerised index of the contents of the Collection has been developed
using Texpress software designed by KE Software of Melbourne. This index
will be linked up with other CSIRO collections and museum systems in the
near future.
A substantial collection from the Tasmanian Department of Sea Fisheries,
together with material from museums, professional fishermen and other
Government organisations, has been incorporated into the Collection, which
is managed by a staff of three people.
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Using the Collection
In addition to its value as a reference library for other scientists
and research organisations, the Collection has proved an invaluable resource
for producing CSIRO publications. These include Australian Seafood
Handbook: an identification guide to domestic species, and guides
to the South East Fishery trawl quota species and Australian sharks and
rays.
In researching the guide to the South East Fishery — one of Australia’s
principal fisheries which has been fished for over 100 years and includes
waters off Australia’s most populated coastline — six previously
undescribed species of fish were found. The guide identifies more than
80 species of commercial fish from the South East Fishery and is intended
to boost confidence in Australia’s seafood industry by assisting
accurate fish identification from the time fish are caught until they
are processed and sold.
Production of a nationwide identification guide for more than 600 species
of Australian seafood — the Australian Seafood Handbook —
also used the Collection as a resource. Voucher specimens of all finfish
food species depicted in this book are held in the Collection.
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Photographic Index of Australian Fishes
High-quality colour images used in the recently released Australian
Seafood Handbook form part of the largest taxonomic photographic collection
of Australian fishes, known as the Photographic Index of Australian Fishes
(PIAF).
PIAF is a valuable research and fishing industry resource. The collection
is the largest of its type in the Southern Hemisphere and consists of
over 40,000 colour transparencies of more than 2,500 fish species or more
than half of Australia’s entire fish fauna.
It encompasses all of Australia’s commercial seafood species, and
contains the only photographs in existence of many bycatch species. It
contains images of species from rivers and estuaries, from near-shore
to the deep ocean, from the temperate regions to the tropics, as well
as from remote offshore islands and the sub-Antarctic. CSIRO marine scientists
have assembled PIAF over the last 30 years as a by-product of coastal
and deep ocean surveys, which are estimated to have cost more than $30
million.
Specimens are usually photographed when fresh to capture the fish’s
natural coloration. Sometimes they are photographed after thawing from
a freezer. The fish are pinned out to display their fins and photographed
on a lightbox using flash lighting to obtain the most detail.
PIAF will ultimately incorporate images of all Australian fish species.
The images can be used for a range of commercial and applied purposes,
such as product promotion through web sites, consumer education and interactive
fish identification. Besides the Australian Seafood Handbook, images have
been used extensively in several books, such as South East Fishery
Quota Species: an identification guide, Field Guide to Trawl Fish from
Temperate Waters of Australia and Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern
and North-Western Australia.
PIAF is currently managed on a cost recovery basis although funding is
being sought to make it more accessible to the broader community. In the
future, transparencies will be digitised and databased for access via
the web.
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Acknowledgements
Dr Peter Last, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Mr Alastair Graham, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Updated:
12/11/08
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