© Baker, J.L. (2009) Marine Species of Conservation Concern in South Australia Full citation Baker, J.L. (2009) Marine Species of Conservation Concern in South Australia: Volume 1 - Bony and Cartilaginous Fishes. Report for the South Australian Working Group for Marine Species of Conservation Concern. J. Baker (consultant); Science and Conservation Division, and Coast and Marine Conservation branches of S.A. Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH); Marine and Coastal Community Network of S.A. (MCCN), and Threatened Species Network (TSN). Web version published by Reef Watch, South Australia.

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Banded Sweep / Footballer

Family Name:	Scorpididae (or Kyphosidae - Scorpidinae)
Scientific Name:	Scorpis georgiana Valenciennes, 1832 = Scorpis georgianus
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient, possibly Near Threatened
Rationale:  The Banded Sweep is included here because (i) it appears to be less common in South Australia than the closely related Sea Sweep S. aequipinnis, and is usually recorded in low numbers; (ii) it is strongly associated with nearshore habitats such as natural and artificial reefs, hence populations are vulnerable to capture, and may also be susceptible to indirect impacts (e.g. through site-specific habitat damage); (iii) the species is curious and will often approach divers, which may result in some populations being vulnerable to disturbance; (iv) the species is caught in a variety of fisheries in S.A. and W.A. (commercial hand-line fishing, commercial gillnets, lobster pots, recreational line fishing, spear fishing, and live collecting for the aquarium trade); (v) no assessments have been undertaken to determine the sustainability of fishing this species, in either S.A. or W.A.; (vi) in S.A., catch statistics for Banded Sweep and Sea Sweep are aggregated, and no population or fishery assessments have been undertaken; however a downward trend in the commercial catch of the two Sweep species (combined) in S.A. has occurred during the past decade at least, and the extent to which this relates to changes in the fishery, compared with changes in the population abundance of Banded Sweep, is not known. The recommended status given here is preliminary, because species-specific data are lacking in S.A., and further collection and examination of data are required.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Southern Australia

Banded Sweep is found in W.A. (mostly from Kalbarri southwards) and across S.A., and is more numerous in the western part of the range (Hutchins and Thompson, 1983; Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994).The species identity of isolated records reported to be S. georgiana in Victoria waters may be unreliable (B. Hutchins, W.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2006)

South Australia

The species has been recorded across S.A. (from the west coast to the upper south-east), usually in low numbers. Examples of locations in S.A. where the species has been recorded include the St Francis Isles and other islands in the Nuyts Archipelago; Flinders I. in the Investigator Group, sites along western Eyre Peninsula / eastern GAB (Point Sinclair, Cape Bauer, Point Westall, Smooth Pool, Granite Lagoon, Waterloo Bay); southern Eyre Peninsula (e.g. Point Avoid, and Coffin Bay area); northern Spencer Gulf (e.g. Whyalla area); eastern Spencer Gulf (e.g. Port Hughes, Port Victoria, Wardang I.), south-western Spencer Gulf (e.g. Memory Cove); “toes” of Yorke Peninsula (e.g. Corny Point; Gleesons Landing, Formby Bay, Groper Bay, Daly Head); southern Yorke Peninsula / Investigator Strait (e.g. Howling Cave Bay, Chinamans Hat I., Black Hill, Troubridge Point); the central and southern metropolitan coast of Gulf St Vincent and parts of the Fleurieu Peninsula (e.g. Port Noarlunga, Aldinga, Onkaparinga Head, Cape Jervis, Newland Head area); northern and north-eastern Kangaroo I. (e.g. Snug Cove, King George Beach, Stokes Bay, Emu Bay, Cape Cassini, Penneshaw, Snapper Point / Cable Bay area); southern Kangaroo I. (e.g. Osmanli Reef, Point Tinline), Encounter Bay, and waters adjacent to the Coorong / upper South East (Johnson, 1985a, 1985b; Branden et al., 1986, 1994; Anonymous, 1996; S. Shepherd and J. Baker, unpubl. data, 2002-03; S. Shepherd, J. Brook, D. Ashcroft, K. Brown and J. Mather, unpubl. data, 2002; S. Shepherd, K. Brown, A. Brown, J. Brook and K. Smith,  unpubl. data, 2002; S. Shepherd and J. Brook, unpubl. data, 2003, 2004; S. Shepherd and A. Brown, unpubl. data, 2003; Shepherd and Brook, 2003b; S. Shepherd, unpubl. data, 2003, 2004; S. Shepherd and J. Murrie, unpubl. data, 2004; S. Shepherd. K. Smith and J. Scott, unpubl. data, 2004; S. Shepherd and M. Kinloch, unpubl. data, 2004; Shepherd et al., 2005; Edgar et al., 2006; South Australian Museum records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007; Shepherd and Baker, 2008).
During a survey in 2002 of the reef fish fauna of the St Francis Isles in the Nuyts Archipelago, Banded Sweep were recorded in 11% of 53 surveyed transects (Shepherd and Brook, 2003b).
During a survey in 2005 of reef fish on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula, north-eastern Kangaroo I., and Encounter Bay, Banded Sweep was recorded at only one site, in low numbers, on the eastern side of Kangaroo Island (Dudley Peninsula) (Edgar et al., 2006).

Habitat

Small juveniles (brown with orange stripes) are often found under floating macroalgae, and they settle on reefs later in life, as black-and-white coloured adults (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986).
Adults of the species are commonly found on shallow reefs, and also in caves and under ledges, in the shallow subtidal (Scott et al., 1974).
During a survey of reef fishes at islands in the Nuyts Archipelago (eastern Great Australian Bight), Banded Sweep was recorded in densities of ~ 3 per 250m² at more wave-exposed sites, and ~ 2 per 250m²  at more sheltered sites (Shepherd and Brook, 2003b).
In south-western W.A., S. georgiana has been recorded in various surveys and habitats, such as (i) in reef habitat in bays, and around islands (Hutchins, 2005); (ii) reefs with dense and medium dense cover of macroalgae (e.g. Ecklonia and other large brown macroalgae), but also found in low numbers in dense seagrass, vegetated sand, and even over bare sand (Harvey et al., 2004); (iii) moderately wave-sheltered nearshore sand habitat with sparse seagrass, and from moderately to fully wave-exposed, shallow nearshore reefs covered with macroalgae (Valesini et al., 2004); and (iv) low densities of macrophyte “beach wrack” (dislodged vegetation that accumulates in the surf zone) (Crawley et al., 2006).
Banded Sweep has also been recorded on artificial reefs (Branden et al., 1994), and around shipwrecks (photograph by D. Teubner, 2005).
The depth range is from the intertidal (small juveniles) to about 35m deep (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994).

Notes on Biology and Behaviour

Growth

S. georgiana grows to almost 46cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986, 2001).
During a survey of the reef fish at the Nuyts Archipelago in 2002, the average size of Banded Sweep specimens recorded was about 22.5cm (SE = 1.4) (Shepherd and Brook, 2003b).
One of the record sizes is 2.493kg (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986, 2001), being a specimen taken by spearfishing in 1972 at Quinn’s Rock, north of Perth (B. Hutchins, W.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2006).

Diet

Banded Sweep reportedly eat zooplankton (Masuda and Allen, 1993, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), and molluscs such as the abalone Haliotis scalaris (Shepherd, 1970).

Fisheries / Trade Information

Commercial – South Australia

In South Australia, commercial catches of Sweep in the Marine Scalefish Fishery are not separated by species. Both Sea Sweep and Banded Sweep are taken in S.A. waters, and specimens are less than 3 years old when they are “recruited” to the fishery (Noell et al., 2005). Sweep are considered to be “tertiary species” in terms of total catch and value in the Marine Scalefish Fishery (Noell et al., 2005). The State-wide catch of Sweep species in S.A. between 1984 and 2005 is provided below (from figures in Knight et al., 2002, 2005).  Sweep are caught commercially in low numbers across most of the State, except the lower south-east. Sweep are taken by hand-lines off the natural and artificial reefs of the Gulf St Vincent, Spencer Gulf, Investigator Strait and eastern Great Australian Bight (Jones and Noell, 2005). Recent regional data within S.A. are not available; however during the mid to late 1990s, the main catches (e.g. around 0.5t to 2.6t per annum) came from deeper waters seaward of Ceduna in the eastern Great Australian Bight (e.g. Nuyts Archipelago region); mid-west coast (e.g. Anxious Bay to Investigator Group region), deeper waters south of Spencer Gulf and north-west of Kangaroo Island, also south of Kangaroo Island and south of Fleurieu Peninsula / Encounter Bay area. Sea Sweep is listed as one of the seven main species targeted by inshore fishers in the Great Australian Bight (McLeay et al., 2003); however, given that the two sweep species co-occur in most parts of S.A., and are not separated in the catch, it is likely that a proportion of the GAB catch comprises S. georgiana. According to the statistics department of SARDI Aquatic Sciences, the annual catch of Sweep species in S.A. is almost all by-catch, with very little targeted effort (e.g. less than 10 boat-days between 2001 and 2006; Figure 2).

Figure 2 Commercial Catch of Sweep (Scorpis aequipinnis and S. georgiana) in South Australia, 1984 to 2005

Sweep species taken as bycatch in the South Australian Rock Lobster Fishery are permitted to be retained for sale (Sloan, 2003b).  During a bycatch sampling program in 1991-92, Sweep (unspecified) were a very small recorded component of the bycatch in the Northern Zone (i.e. 1 specimen in a sample of 32,028 pot lifts), and no catches were listed for the Southern Zone (Prescott and Xiao, 2001, Table 5). During a more recent bycatch survey in the south Australian Rock Lobster Fishery, Sea Sweep Scorpis aequipinnis was listed as the Sweep species caught, but it is assumed here that an unknown proportion of the catch may have been Banded Sweep S. georgiana, because the two species are not differentiated in catch reporting of fisheries in South Australia. According to the results of the 2001-2003 bycatch monitoring program using fishers’ logbooks, greater catches of Sweep come from the Southern Zone than the Northern Zone, possibly in the order of 50 to 80 specimens per year. The proportion of the Sweep catch that comprises S. georgiana is not known for this report (Table 8).
 

Table 8 Proportional Catch of Sweep (mainly S. aequipinis) in the S.A. Rock Lobster Fishery, from Log Book Monitoring 2001-2003
Northern Zone	No. pot lifts (and percentage of total)	No. Sweep specimens caught
2001/02	320,003 (51%)	3
2002/03	265,843 (47%)	2
Southern Zone	No. pot lifts (and percentage of total)	No. Sweep specimens caught
2001/02	545,886 (60%)	47
2002/03	486,155 (57%)	22
(Brock et al., 2004)

Commercial – Western Australia

In W.A., both Banded Sweep Scorpis georgiana and Sea Sweep S. aequipinnis are taken commercially. Catches in recent years are provided in Table 9.
 

Table 9 Reported Catches of Sweep from W.A. waters, 1994-95 to 2002-03
Year	Banded Sweep Live weight (kg)	Sea Sweep Live weight (kg)
1994/95	870	5,574
1995/96	727	5,421
1996/97	562	3,216
1997/98	674	4,891
1998/99	961	1,483
1999/00	344	1,653
2000/01	801	2,018
2001/02	1,002	2,184
2002/03	687	1,346
(W.A. Fisheries Research Services Division statistics 1994-2001, extracted from W.A. Fisheries website, 2003, and W.A. State of the Fisheries reports, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-04)

Banded Sweep S. georgiana is a minor part of the gillnet bycatch in W.A.’s Joint Authority Southern Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery (JASDGDLF), and West Coast Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery (WCDGDLF). According to a study of the bycatch in these fisheries (McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003), the highest catches of this species come from Region 4 (between longitude 116°E and latitude 33°S) and Region 5 (between latitudes 33°S and 30°S) of these fisheries. During research surveys in 1994-99, the total catch for all regions of these fisheries ranged between 14 and 41 specimens (= 8kg – 30kg) per annum, with between 10 and 40 of those specimens per annum from Region 4, and 1 to 6 specimens from Region 5 (McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003). During that period, the fishery catch of unspecified Sweep species (which would have included both S. georgiana and S. aequipinnis), ranged between 153kg and 529kg per annum (average 310kg per annum), but the proportion of the catch that comprised S. georgiana is not known.
Banded Sweep S. georgiana is taken commercially for the aquarium trade. It is noted that the species was not included in the list of aquarium fish taken in the Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery (e.g. Department of Fisheries, W.A., 2004b), and details of the source of specimens taken for the aquarium market could not be found for this report.  The export price from Australia in 2005 ranged from $US12 – 15 per specimen, according to size (Ryan and Clarke, 2005).

 Recreational

Banded Sweep is taken by some anglers. According to Kuiter (in Gomon et al., 1994) the species is regularly caught on hook and line, but is not highly esteemed as a table fish. In S.A., during the National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey (Henry and Lyle, 2003; Jones and Doonan, 2005), the combined catch of Sea Sweep and Banded Sweep in S.A. was 57,864 individuals (SE = 16,430), approximately 28% of the national total. The proportion of the Sweep catch that comprised S. georgiana is not known, because Sweep were not separated by species. About 52% of the Sweep catch in S.A. is released (McLeay et al., 2002, citing Henry and Lyle, 2003). Recreational fishing survey statistics for Sweep (unspecified) in other States are detailed above, in the section on Scorpididae.
In W.A., a 12-month recreational survey conducted in the west coast region between Augusta and Kalbarri (Sumner and Williamson, 1999), showed that during the survey period, the boating catch was 5,913 (S.E. = 1,929) Banded Sweep, of which 141 were released. Most of the catch came from Jurien Bay region. In W.A., there is a daily bag limit of 8 sweep (Banded Sweep and Sea Sweep combined) (Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, 2006b).
In S.A., there is a minimum size limit of 24cm for sweep specimens taken by recreational fishers, and daily bag and boat limits of 20 and 60 sweep, respectively (PIRSA, 2006).
Charter boat fishers in some parts of S.A., such as the eastern Great Australian Bight, also take sweep (McLeay et al., 2003), and it is likely that part of the catch comprises S. georgiana as well as the more common S. aequipinnis. The charter boat fishery has similar catch limits to the recreational sector (24cm size limit, 20 fish per person per day, and 60 per boat, for boats with up to 6 passengers). The personal daily bag limit of 20 sweep is reduced to 10 sweep if there are more than 6 passengers on a charter boat (PIRSA, 2005b).
Some recreational fishing clubs and associations keep records of the maximum sizes caught (e.g. Australian Anglers Association, 2005; AAA W.A. Division, 2005). Scorpis species are also listed as targets by the Australian National Sportsfishing Association. It is noted that there is a record sized specimen of S. georgiana (1.05kg) reported to have been taken in western Victoria in 1982 (Australian Anglers Association, Victorian Division, 2003), which is not part of the geographic range.
Banded Sweep are taken by spear fishers (e.g. Johnson, 1985a, 1985b). Along the Fleurieu Peninsula in S.A., Banded Sweep was one of the top 5 species (in terms of numbers) taken during spearfishing competitions in the early 1980s, and the species was also taken off southern Yorke Peninsula, and in eastern Spencer Gulf (Johnson, 1985a, 1985b). Given that the only prohibition on spearfishing in S.A. is the metropolitan coast, it is likely that Banded Sweep are still taken by spear fishers in accessible areas across S.A.. The Australian record-sized specimen was taken by spear-fishing (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; B. Hutchins, W.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2006).

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species, and Threatening Processes

Banded Sweep is strongly site-associated (territorial), and therefore may be vulnerable to localised depletion (Rohan et al., 1991). Over the relatively narrow depth range in which S. georgiana is found, this aggregating reef species is vulnerable to capture using hand-lines and long-lines, nets, and spears. Fishing has the potential to have an impact at localised scales, but there are no data.
Banded Sweep are site-associated, aggregating reef fish species, and populations in some nearshore areas may thus be susceptible to indirect impacts due to habitat damage.
The species is curious and will often approach divers, which may result in some populations being vulnerable to disturbance.

Research and Management Requirements

Some aspects of the biology are not well known, such as longevity, and reproduction.
Targeted catch and bycatch of this species should be documented over space and time in commercial hand-line and gillnet fisheries. Although sweep species are considered low priority for research and stock assessment reporting in South Australia (Noell et al., 2005), the potential vulnerability of the less common Banded Sweep S. georgiana to over-exploitation is noted here. As occurs in W.A., the commercial catches of S. georgiana in S.A. should be separated, if possible, from the catches of S. aequipinnis. It is difficult to determine the catch and effort over space and time when the species data are aggregated. For the gillnet fisheries (i.e. JASDGDLF and WCDGDLF in W.A), bycatch data for S. georgiana were collected during the mid to late 1990s (McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003), but there are no data for the 2000s.
Species-specific recreational catch statistics are required over space and time. This would include statistics for line fishing by anglers, boat fishers (including charter boats), spear fishing and other methods.
Measures to reduce the bycatch of reef-associated Sweep species in rock lobster pots should be encouraged.
An assessment is also required of the sustainability of the annual take for the aquarium industry.
An overall assessment of the status of this species is recommended, particularly in S.A., and in light of that, commercial and recreational catch regulations may be required.