© 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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Cucumber Fish / Greeneyes / Blacktip Cucumberfish

Family Name:	Paraulopidae
Scientific Name:	Paraulopus nigripinnis (Günther, 1878)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient in S.A., possibly Near Threatened in Commonwealth waters
Rationale:  Although the Cucumber Fish has a broad geographic distribution and broad depth range, it is included here because (i) tonnes of this species are caught and discarded per annum in some of the southern Australian trawl fisheries; (ii) there are no limitations on catch (in Commonwealth-managed waters), and recent assessments indicate that trawling might adversely affect populations of Cucumber Fish; (iii) given the high frequency of capture, Cucumber Fish may be a naturally abundant species (or would otherwise be, in un-trawled conditions), and may therefore be an ecologically important species in the food webs of lower continental shelf and upper slope waters, and (iv) there is very little knowledge of the habitat requirements,  population dynamics, biology, and ecology of this species. Although the Cucumber Fish is caught in large quantities in the South East Trawl Fishery, and in lower quantities in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery and other fisheries, it occurs mainly in waters deeper than 100m, and therefore is at lower risk in S.A. State waters.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

General

The Cucumber Fish occurs across southern Australia (including Tasmania), from central New South Wales through to the central W.A. coast (Paxton et al., 1989; Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994).
In Tasmania, the species has been recorded around the entire island, and also off smaller islands in Bass Strait (including the Kent Group) (OZCAM database records, 2004-2007).
Most records of the species are from south-eastern Australia (Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994; OZCAM database records, 2007).
Other locations around southern Australia where Cucumber Fish is recorded include the Great Australian Bight; the central and south-western coasts of W.A.; the S.A. / Victorian border; the central coast of N.S.W., and the Queensland / N.S.W. border (OZCAM database records, 2004-2007).
Cucumber Fish is also found in New Zealand (Paulin et al., 1989; Francis et al., 2002).

South Australia

The species is rarely found in S.A. State waters, and is known mostly from deeper (outer shelf and upper continental slope) waters under Commonwealth jurisdiction. Examples of locations in or near South Australia where the Cucumber Fish has been recorded include the western and central Great Australian Bight, and the lower south-east of S.A., including waters near the Victorian border (Brown and Knuckey, 2002; South Australian Museum records, cited by R. Foster, SAM, pers. comm., 2006; CSIRO Marine Research records, cited in CSIRO, 200; Australian Museum records, Museum of Victoria records; cited in OZCAM database, 2004-2007).

Habitat

Cucumber Fish is a demersal species found on the continental shelf and slope, on sandy and muddy bottoms (May and Maxwell, 1986; Paxton et al., 1989; Sato and Nakabo, 2002).
P. nigripinnis is known from a broad depth range, between about 65m and more than 600m (Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994; NIWA records, cited by CSIRO, 2007). Most records in southern Australia are from within the range 200m – 500m (see CSIRO, 2006, and references therein). In S.A., there are records from at least as shallow as 82m, as well as continental slope records from more than 400m (South Australian Museum data, cited by R. Foster, SAM, pers. comm., 2006).
Some members of the family are hermaphroditic; however the reproductive biology of the Cucumber Fish is poorly known (Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994).

Notes on the Biology

Cucumber Fish grows to about 21cm SL (May and Maxwell, 1986, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), or 28cm (Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994).
The Australian Anglers Association has recorded a maximum size of 0.715kg, being a specimen caught of Kiama in New South Wales, in 2001.
Cucumber Fish is considered to be an important food source for “many” commercial fish species, including Blue Grenadier Macruronus novaezelandiae (Bulman and Blaber, 1986; Glover, in Gomon et al., 1994), and Deepwater Flathead (Coleman and Mobley, 1984), amongst others (see Bulman et al., 2001).

Fisheries Information

Commercial

When taken outside of 3 nautical miles (NM) from the coast, catches of Cucumber Fish are managed by the Commonwealth (and when taken inside 3 NM, are managed by the States) (AFMA, 2002a). The species is taken mainly by trawl; however there is a concession that permits the use of fish hooks, shark hooks, and/or gillnets in the GHAT (Gillnet, Hook and Trap) fishery to be used to catch Cucumber Fish in Commonwealth-managed waters (outside 3NM), with no catch limits (AFMA, 2004e).
Cucumber Fish used to be very popular bait for tuna longlines, and were often retained by Bermagui fishers for this purpose (R. Tilzey, BRS, pers. comm., 2006).
Although Cucumber fish is classified as a non-commercial species (Australian Government DEH, 2003b), it is a retained by-product and also a discarded bycatch species in the Commonwealth-managed South East Trawl Fishery (SETF) (Andrew et al., 1997; Wayte et al., 2004; Bromhead and Bolton, 2005). However, there is very little retained catch in these Commonwealth-managed fisheries in south-eastern Australia (M. Koopman, Department of Primary Industries Victoria, pers. comm., 2006). Fishers’ logbooks recorded a catch of about 5t in 2000/2001, and a scientific monitoring program during the same period recorded a discarded catch of about 16.8 tonnes in the SETF (AFMA, 2002a). More than 10t per annum have been discarded in the SETF in almost every year during the past decade to 2005. In the Danish seine sub-fishery of the SETF, an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) recorded, in 88 shots, a discard quantity of 1.4 tonnes of Cucumber Fish (Wayte et al., 2004), an average of 16kg per trawl shot. Discarded catches of cucumber fish in the SETF are shown below, according to ISMP data (Table 27).

Table 27 Annual quantities of Cucumber Fish discarded in the SETF
Year	discards (t)
1992	<0.1t
1993	12.4
1994	9.5
1995	8.3
1996	8.6
1997	10.3
1998	11.3
1999	16
2000	16.5
2001	16.7
2002	11.3
2003	14.7
2004	11.6
2005	10.5
(Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program data, cited by BRS and DPI Victoria, pers. comm., 2006)

The species is part of the discarded bycatch in the Ocean Fish Trawl fisheries in New South Wales. In the Ocean Fish Trawl Shelf sector, fishery independent surveys showed that the frequency of occurrence of P. nigripinnis was approximately 64% across all trawls; 70% in the ocean prawn trawl – deepwater sector, and 2% in the ocean fish trawl shelf sector – Wreck Bay and Tathra inshore grounds (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
The species is also recorded in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (GABTF), in smaller quantities than in the SETF (e.g. 108kg in 2000/01) (AFMA, 2002a). Sampling of the GABTF during 2000 and 2001 showed that during the survey period, P. nigripinnis was recorded in 12 of the 209 trawl shots. The average quantity retained was 0.5kg per trawl shot, and the average quantity discarded was 5.3kg per shot (Brown and Knuckey, 2002).
The species is caught by gillnets in minor, incidental quantities in the South East Non Trawl Fishery, and discarded (Knuckey et al., 2001).

Recreational

Given the depth range, the species would rarely be taken by anglers; however fishing associations, such as the New South Wales Fishing Clubs Association, and the Australian Anglers Association, record maximum sizes of Cucumber Fish caught by recreational fishers.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species and Threatening Processes

Given the frequency of capture, Cucumber Fish may be a naturally abundant species (or would be in un-trawled conditions), and may therefore be an ecologically important species in the food webs of lower continental shelf and upper slope waters.
Very little is known of the biology and population dynamics (e.g. longevity, reproductive frequency and recruitment strength) and ecology of this species, and therefore the large, unregulated catch is of concern.
The species is vulnerable to capture in trawls and seine nets, amongst other fishing gear. Tonnes of this species are caught and discarded per annum in some of the southern Australian trawl fisheries, and this is likely to be the main threatening process. In 2004, an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) for the South East Trawl fishery (Wayte et al., 2004) reported that Cucumber Fish is one of the most common species to pass through the nets, and injury or mortality is likely to occur, particularly the fish that are caught up in the nets. There is a lack of data on the survival rate of these fish, including the small ones that pass through the nets. In that assessment, the species was ranked as being at “medium risk” of population impacts from trawling in the SETF, although the calculated risk value was 3.07, which almost qualified the species for the “high risk” category. In 2006, an ERA for species in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (Daley et al., 2006), ranked P. nigripinnis as a “high risk” species, in terms of population impacts from capture in the GAB Trawl Fishery, with the proviso that some of the data required for accurate assessment do not exist, and also that there are taxonomic problems with distinguishing closely related fish in the family. Similarly, Cucumber Fish was listed as one of the bycatch species in the N.S.W. Ocean Trawl Fishery that has a “high” fishery impact profile (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004). Studies in New South Wales showed that the species suffers trawl trauma when hauled in trawls; has a low probability of survival when caught, and “low to moderate” resilience. Overall, P. nigripinnis was classified overall as a “high risk” species in terms of population impacts from trawl fishing (see NSW Department of Primary Industries, 2004). In the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF), Cucumber Fish is one of the most commonly caught species, and is recorded all year round. There are no data on the mortality or survival of fish that pass through the nets. In a recent draft ecological risk assessment of the SET and Danish Seine Fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), 3 “productivity attributes” and 6 “attributes of susceptibility” for Cucumber Fish were used to categorise it as a “medium risk” species.

Research Requirements

Further research is needed on the abundance, biology, population dynamics and ecology of Cucumber Fish.
Given the very large number of this species taken in south-eastern and southern Australian trawl fisheries, further assessment of the impact of trawling on populations should be undertaken.

Management Requirements

Catch limits should be introduced in Commonwealth-managed trawl fisheries.
Methods are required to minimise the bycatch of this species in trawl and seine fisheries.

Other Information

A newly described species (Paraulopus melanogrammus), closely related to P. nigripinnis, has been recorded from southern Queensland and northern New South Wales (Gomon and Sato, 2004).