I am now in Queensland Australia! During my stay in Australia I am staying in Townsville where I am being hosted by the Dr. Marcus Sheaves Lab at James Cook University. I have begun my collecting in Australia in mangrove creeks near Hinchinbrook Island, which is approximately a 1.5 hour drive north of Townsville. Doctoral students Michael Bradley and Ross Johnson in the Sheaves Lab are researching fish utilization of different habitat types in this area. Michael and Ross are accomplishing this by taking underwater videos using stationary cameras placed on the ocean floor. I joined Ross and Michael on some of their trips to Hinchinbrook because after placing the video cameras and before picking them up there was time for us to cast-net for clupeiformes. I have never tried cast netting before, but it was suggested to me that this would be a good method to catch clupeiformes in Australia because the crocodiles make it very dangerous to wade in the water. Cast-netting from the boat I was able to collect many individuals of a single species of herring, Herklotsichthys castelnaui. In the evenings I also tried cast netting off of some docks as well as a jetty in Lucinda, Queensland near our hotel. Again, I mainly caught H. castelnaui, but one evening I also caught two Stolephorus brachycephalus and one Thryssa setirostris. I puzzled why I have been unable to catch very many species of clupeiforms because the habitats I have been fishing in certainly seem good for them. I will try cast netting in different habitats and at different times of day and hopefully I will have more luck catching different species.
Collecting event details:
Lat/long: 18* 26' 43.69" S, 146* 09' 11.54" E
Dates: 04/June/2014, 09/July/2014, 19/July/2014
Video: Coming soon!
Collecting event details:
Lat/long: 18* 26' 43.69" S, 146* 09' 11.54" E
Dates: 04/June/2014, 09/July/2014, 19/July/2014
Video: Coming soon!