The use of baited videos enabled non-destructive sampling of a vast variety (228 species) of fishes, sharks, rays and sea snakes below the limits of safe SCUBA diving. No localised nests of species richness and diversity were detected, but sightings for 42% of all species were restricted to one or other particular area of the six areas surveyed. On average, this restriction to single areas occurred for 53% of the families sighted. About 50% of butterfly fish species were restricted in their distributions to one particular area and this family had important leverage in forcing the community patterns. Two major groupings, and one further, minor grouping, of fish communities were recognised in the Lagoon the seaward lagoon margins, the inner, central lagoon, and a further split away by 2 locations in the innermost lagoon.

Cappo, Heyward, Speare GOALS: To map the benthic habitats, and record the associated fish, shark and ray faunas, of the major clusters of Timor Sea shoals at 3 depth zones : 20-30m, 40-60m and 90-110m. APPROACH: Towed camera footage and real-time seabed classifications [substratum,major benthic groups present (eg seagrass,sponge gardens, gorgonians, hard corals, occurrence of individual benthic animal (eg crabs, starfish, clams)] has been obtained from 3 shoals near Evans Shoal, 6 Karmt shoals and 6 Sahul shoals ; as well as 4 adjacent sites in 96-100m on the continental shelf. BRUVS have been deployed at these same 3 depth zones: 20-30m, 40-60m and 90-110m at 3 shoals near Evans Shoal, 6 Karmt shoals and 6 Sahul shoals; as well as 4 adjacent sites in 96-100m on the shelf. 6 BRUVS were set in a line and towed camera footage was obtained during 3 replicate tows amongst this set of BRUVS. Multivariate statistics will be used to explore associations amongst fish and the benthic habitats they are found in. HIGHLIGHTS TO DATE: · Shallows dominated by extraordinarily rich benthos down to >70m · Shallows have moderately diverse fish faunas, lacking large economically-important sharks, serranids, lutjanids and lethrinids · Deepest zones have most abundant fauna of larger fish in these 3 families · Sharks notably absent c.f. other similar regions (eg Rowley Shoals), and most seen were pups · Several species of lutjanid and serranid recorded for first time in Aust. waters · New photographs obtained of species never filmed underwater before (eg Wattsia, Epinephelus morrhua) · Juvenile lethrinids abunadnt in dense seagrass beds at depth · Seagrass detritus visible down to 100m

This report is preliminary and produced by the Western Australian Museum's Marine Survey Team from a shallow water (0-20 metres depth) survey of Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the status of the biodiversity (an overview census) of selected marine phyla. The sites chosen are a combination of new sites, those previously visited by the Museum in 1986 and a number of sites currently being monitored by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

A one week pilot survey was done along the proposed gas pipeline route within the harbour, and in search of black jewfish aggregations (Protonibea diacanthus) on a number of shipwrecks and artificial reefs. The tapes have been read, but the water was often turbid - especially before the neap tide in the inner harbour. Only a single jewfish was sighted.

Baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS (TM)) were deployed to census deep water fish communities (30-70 m) at 19 sites in South Scott Reef lagoon in November and December 1999. The sites were selected to cover nominally representative habitat types and depth contours across 6 regions of South Scott Reef lagoon. These regions, were East Hook Entrance, East Hook, East Lagoon, Central Lagoon, South Lagoon and West Lagoon. A total of 112 deployments were made along three transects running outward from the centre of South Scott Reef lagoon to both East Hook and West Hook and to the southern shallow region, as well as along the drop-off at the entrance to the lagoon. Six BRUVS (TM) were deployed at each site, at similar depths, separated by intervals of approximately 150 m. A GPS fix was taken for all BRUVS (TM) deployed. Each BRUVS (TM) was lowered to the seafloor, with an attached rope and surface float marking its position, enabling recovery later in the day. Normal daily operations were to deploy all six units in one site during the morning, followed by a second deployment at a new site in the afternoon. As a test, on one occasion, two BRUVS (TM) were deployed at night with underwater torches attached for illumination. Each BRUVS (TM) recorded onto a 90 minute Hi-8 video tape until the tape was full. The deployed units were recovered after the maximum recording time and generally within 4 hours of deployment. Tapes were scanned on a Sony Trinitron 14 inch Monitor using a Sony Video Hi-8 Cassette Recorder with a Sony Control Unit editing deck. This allowed fast-forward, play-back, zoom X2 and freeze to enable definitive species identifications, and to speed data collection. Data collected from each tape included a brief description of the seabed topography and benthic community, a species name, the time (hr:min:sec) of first sighting of the individual species, the species activities/behaviours (in 6 categories) in the field of view, the time that an individual species began to feed at the bait canister and/or the time at which the most number of individuals was active in the field of view, and the maximum number of each species sighted simultaneously in any one field of view. These data were initially entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. This study was undertaken to determine species richness and diversity of fishes, sharks, rays and sea snakes below the limits of safe SCUBA diving in South Scott Reef lagoon, using baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS (TM)).BRUVS (TM) data was used in combination with benthic community data derived from surveys with television recordings from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to provide;1. a statistical clustering by similar fish communities of the different habitats and regions in the South Scott Reef lagoon and2. a measure of association between fish communities and broad habitat classifications. This study was part of a more extensive survey of North Scott Reef lagoon and South Scott Reef lagoon, "Characterisation of Scott Reef lagoon biota - fish and macrobenthos" carried out during November and December, 1999. Work in North Scott Reef lagoon focused on shallow water benthic communities, which were sampled by the divers using hand-held underwater video cameras. Sampling in South Scott Reef lagoon used more diverse methods and focused on not only the benthic communities but the demersal fish communities as well. In South Scott Reef lagoon the benthic communities were sampled using divers, ROVs and grabs, while fish communities were sampled using deployed baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS (TM)).

Measures of relative abundance and length (snout to fork) of all fish species observed on video images (~160 species) to assess the structure and spatial distribution of coral reef fish assemblages at the Abrolhos Islands

This dataset describes the predicted occurrence of juvenile sharks around Northwest Australia, mapped over a 0.01 degree spatial grid. Juvenile sharks were mapped at two taxonomic levels: order by including all juvenile sharks sampled (all juveniles) and species by considering the three most abundant species sampled separately (grey reef (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos), sandbar (Carcharhinus plumbeus), and whitetip reef (Triaenodon obesus) sharks). The data cover the period 2003-2013 and are derived from an analysis of count data derived from baited remote underwater videos deployed through various sampling programs. Further detail can be found in the following peer-reviewed publication: Oh, BZL, Sequeira, AMM, Meekan, MG, Ruppert, JLW and Meeuwig, JJ (2017), Predicting occurrence of juvenile shark habitat to improve conservation planning. Conservation Biology, 31: 635–645. doi:10.1111/cobi.12868 Below is a full list of species, with contributions to the total counted (%): Silvertip shark / Carcharhinus albimarginatus – 4.14% Grey reef shark / Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos – 28.06% Bronze whaler / Carcharhinus brachyurus – 0.18% Galapagos shark / Carcharhinus galapagensis – 0.09% Bull shark / Carcharhinus leucas – 0.18% Common-Australian blacktip shark / Carcharhinus limbatus-C.tilstoni – 1.38% Blacktip reef shark / Carcharhinus melanopterus – 1.56% Sandbar shark / Carcharhinus plumbeus – 4.78% Spot-tail shark / Carcharhinus sorrah – 0.18% Tiger shark / Galeocerdo cuvier – 2.39% Sliteye-Sharpnose shark / Loxodon macrorhinus-Rhizoprionodon spp. – 6.35% Lemon shark / Negaprion acutidens – 1.01% Whitetip reef shark / Triaenodon obesus – 18.95% Tawny shark / Nebrius ferrugineus – 0.83% Grey carpetshark / Chiloscyllium punctatum – 1.38% Taselled wobbegong / Eucrossorhinus dasypogon – 0.09% Scalloped hammerhead / Sphyrna lewini – 0.46% Great hammerhead / Sphyrna mokarran – 3.86% Zebra shark / Stegostoma fasciatum – 0.83% Sicklefin houndshark / Hemitriakis falcata – 1.01% Grey gummy shark / Mustelus ravidus – 0.28% Archived BRUVS video files used in this study are the intellectual property of multiple institutions and industry partners and are not published in this record. See credits for further information.

In October 1992 ten days were spent at Scott Reef, three at Seringapatam and two days at each of the Rowley Shoals. Fish population censuses for a number of major reef fish families were carried out by trained divers during 45 minute SCUBA swims at a number of outer reef-slope and lagoon sites. Counts of snappers, emperors and cods were also made at lagoon sites. Additionaly lists of all species of fish observed at each site were compiled. Additional fish counts were also made using standardised counting methods developed for long-term monitoring of fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef.