© 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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Blue-spotted Pufferfish / Blue-spotted Toadfish / Bluespotted Toadfish

Family Name:	Tetraodontidae
Scientific Name:	Omegophora cyanopunctata Hardy and Hutchins, 1981
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient
Rationale:  Blue-spotted Pufferfish is included here because (i) this south-western species appears to have a geographically limited distribution within S.A., and there are few published records to date; (ii) O. cyanopunctata is a shallow-water species that occurs in the near-shore area (over a relatively narrow depth range), on reefs in bays and near jetties, and thus may be vulnerable to habitat impacts in some areas; (iii) pufferfishes lay demersal eggs, and this benthic, site-specific mode of reproduction may increase the vulnerability of populations to localised impacts; (iv) there is little existing information about the biology, population dynamics, or relative abundance of this species across its range; (v) the species is used in the aquarium trade, and potential impacts on populations have not been investigated.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Omegophora cyanopunctata is a subtropical / warm temperate species (Kuiter, 1983; Eschmeyer, 1999) that occurs mainly in south-western Australia, but extends east into western South Australia. Cape Naturaliste in south-western Australia is the type locality (Eschmeyer, 1999) and Rottnest Island is the published western limit (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).

South Australia

There are few published records from South Australia. Although the centre of distribution of the Blue-spotted Pufferfish is in south-western Australia, the species has also been recorded from near the S.A. / W.A. border (e.g. CSIRO Marine Research - Ichthyology section records CA 3397, CA 3398, CA 3401 and CA 3402), as well as the Investigator Group islands in S.A. (Kuiter, 1983; Branden et al., 1986), and the species has reportedly been found as far east as Gulf St Vincent in S.A. (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994). During the 1980s, records of the Blue-spotted Pufferfish from the Investigator Group islands (Kuiter, 1983) were the first published records of the species in South Australia.
There is only one registered record of this species at the South Australian Museum, but the specimen was not collected in S.A. (R. Foster, pers. comm., 2006).

Habitat

Commonly found on coastal reefs (in south-western W.A.) (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986), and enters bays, where it hides amongst debris beneath piers and jetties (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000).
O. cyanopunctata is a shallow coastal water species, recorded to depths of around 25m (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).

Notes on the Biology

The species grows to around 18cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).
Demersal eggs are laid in a nest and presumably defended (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
O. cyanopunctata has been recorded as a minor part of the diet of gummy sharks Mustelus antarcticus (Simpfendorfer et al., 2001).

Fisheries and Trade Information

Blue-spotted Pufferfish is used in the aquarium fish trade; however the extent to which the species is collected in southern Australia for this purpose, is not known for this report. It is noted that O. cyanopunctata was not listed amongst species collected as part of the W.A. Marine Aquarium Fish Managed fishery (e.g. Department of Fisheries, W.A., 2004b), even though south-western Australia is the centre of the distribution. During the early 2000s, Omegophora cyanopunctata specimens were being sold through on-line aquarium supply companies. For example, in Canada in 2003, O. cyanopunctata specimens were selling for $22 - $34. In 2005, specimens for export from Australia were selling for US$35 - $40 per specimen (Ryan and Clarke, 2005), and the species was available as an aquarium fish from a US supply company during the mid to late 2000s.
No species-specific data are available regarding bycatch. The species is found at shallower depths than those worked by trawlers in the Great Australian Bight and south-western Australia, hence is unlikely to be taken as trawl bycatch in those fisheries. Although the species is mainly associated with reefs, it is possible that O. cyanopunctata could be part of the bycatch in coastal prawn trawl fisheries, but no data are available.
Species-specific recreational fishing data are not available; however the section above on Tetraodontidae provides an example of recreational fishing statistics for pufferfish and toadfish as a group.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species

The species has a limited known distribution within South Australia, and very few specimens have been recorded in this State.
Blue-spotted Pufferfish occurs over a relatively narrow depth range (about 25m), and is strongly site-associated with reefs in the shallow subtidal.
Pufferfishes lay demersal eggs in a nest (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), a population characteristic that increases their vulnerability, compared with fish that do not have such strong site association and site-specific, benthic reproduction.

Threatening Processes

Given the strong site association and localised reproduction of pufferfish, collection for the aquarium trade has the potential to caused localised depletions, but there are no specific data available.
Processes which degrade the quality of shallow subtidal reefs may negatively affect populations of this site-associated reef species, but there are no specific data.
Shallow water trawls (e.g. for prawns) may potentially be a threatening process in some parts of the range, but no data are available.

Research Requirements

More information is required on the distribution and relative abundance of this species across the range, particularly in South Australia.
There is very little information on the biology, habitat requirements and population dynamics of this species.

Management Requirements

Given that the Blue-spotted Pufferfish appears to be relatively uncommon compared with many other pufferfish species, the extent of the take (at a national scale) of O. cyanopunctata for the aquarium industry should be quantified, and the sustainability of the practice investigated. Limits should be placed on the number of specimens taken per annum, and within each reef area.
Although this species is unlikely to be caught in significant numbers in trawls due to its habitat and depth range, it is noted that bycatch of shallow water puffer fish species in coastal fisheries should be recorded at species level, over space and time, and methods to reduce bycatch should be adopted.