© 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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Footballer Sweep / Western Footballer

Family Name:	Scorpididae (or Kyphosidae - Scorpidinae)
Scientific Name:	Neatypus obliquus Waite, 1905
Recommended Status in S.A:	Least Concern (in South Australia)
Rationale:  The Footballer Sweep is included here because (i) it appears to be of lower abundance in S.A. than in W.A.; (ii) the species is strongly site-associated, and aggregates near natural and artificial reefs, hence some populations, particularly those in nearshore areas, are vulnerable to capture (live collecting for the aquarium trade, gill net fishing, line fishing, and possibly spear-fishing) or 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 a minor part of the trawl bycatch in the Great Australian Bight, and in the gillnet and long-line fisheries in south-western Australia, but taken in larger numbers for the aquarium trade, and no assessment has been undertaken of the sustainability of live capture (in W.A.) for that trade, nor of the bycatch in fisheries. A classification of Least Concern is currently proposed for Neatypus obliquus in S.A., because the species (i) appears to be restricted in occurrence to parts of S.A. which have relatively low fishing pressure, such as offshore islands in the western part of the State, and potential protected areas in the central part of the S.A. coast; (ii) is not known to be taken from S.A. waters for the aquarium trade, and (iii) exists over a broad depth range (to 200m), hence is unlikely to be fished or collected over a major part of the depth range, in S.A. waters.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Southern Australia

Generally, the range of N. obliquus can be summarised as the central coast of South Australia through to the central coast of W.A. (Australian Museum, 2004g). During the past decade, the number of locations along the central S.A. coast in which N. obliquus has been reliably recorded, would indicate that the species range extends further eastwards than has been previously published (e.g. Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994).
In W.A., the species is commonly observed along the southern coast, and even occurs in metropolitan waters, such as Fremantle.
The species is frequently encountered off mainland bays in south-western Australia (Hutchins, 2005).

South Australia

Examples of locations in S.A. where N. obliquus has been recorded include the S.A. / W.A. border in the Great Australian Bight (GAB); St Francis Isles (e.g. St Francis Island, Smooth Island) and other islands in the Nuyts Archipelago; islands and reefs in the Investigator Group (eastern GAB),  such as Pearson I., the “Hotspot”, and Flinders I.; Ceduna / Thevenard area (eastern GAB); Waterloo Bay / Elliston area; North I. in the Gambier islands group (south of Spencer Gulf), and northern Kangaroo I. (Kuiter, 1983; Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; MLSSA dive records, undated; Edgar, 2000; K. Smith, unpublished data, 2002; Shepherd and Brook, 2003b; D. Muirhead, MLSSA, pers. comm., 2005; Australian Museum, 2004g; CSIRO Marine Research data, 1979, cited in CSIRO, 2007; South Australian Museum records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).
During a survey in 2002 of the reef fish fauna of the St Francis Isles in the Nuyts Archipelago, Footballer Sweep were recorded in 11% of 53 surveyed transects, with a density of about 3.8 per 250m² at more wave-exposed sites, and a density of about 2 per 250m²  at more sheltered sites (Shepherd and Brook, 2003b).

Habitat

The Footballer Sweep occurs on rocky reefs in offshore waters, mainly between 8m and 200m (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000; Australian Museum, 2004g); however it is noted that the species has also been recorded on shallow reefs (5m) on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south-eastern Gulf St Vincent (Edgar et al., 2006). 
Footballer Sweep appears to prefer deeper reefs than most of its close relatives (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994). Adults may occur in deeper water (e.g. to 200m) than the juveniles, sometimes rising to shallow turbulent waters around large boulders (Kuiter, 1996a) (see Diet and Feeding Behaviour).
In south-western Australia, Hutchins (2005) reported the species to be mainly associated with reefs. It occurs in large numbers around offshore reefs, swimming in mid-water (B. Hutchins, W.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2006). In that region, the species has been recorded recently in and around a variety of habitats, including high profile and low profile rocky reefs (with dense or medium dense cover of Ecklonia and/or other large brown macroalgae); sand-inundated low profile reefs with sparse cover of macroalgae, and also (in lesser numbers) in habitats described as bare sand, vegetated sand, dense seagrass beds, and rhodolith beds (Harvey et al., 2004). According to Harvey et al. (2004), the species appears to prefer macroalgae cover of medium density, rather than high density.
In W.A., divers have recorded the species aggregating around various shipwrecks along the coast (e.g. wrecks off Rockingham, Dunsborough and Lancelin, amongst others).

Notes on Biology and Behaviour

Growth

N. obliquus grows to approximately 23cm or 24cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000). Some of the largest specimens recorded in W.A. have been around 240g - 260g in weight (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Australian Anglers Association, W.A. Division, 2005).
During a survey of the reef fish at the Nuyts Archipelago in 2002, the average size of Footballer Sweep specimens recorded was about 14.2cm (SE = 0.6) (Shepherd and Brook, 2003b). 

Diet and Feeding Behaviour

The Footballer Sweep is variously reported to feed on zooplankton and small benthic invertebrates (Masuda and Allen, 1993, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), suspended matter (Kuiter, 1996a), and marine vegetation (Kuiter, in Gomon et al., 1994), including green macroalgae.
Adults may occur in deeper water (e.g. to 200m) than the juveniles, sometimes rising to shallow turbulent waters around large boulders, to feed on suspended matter (Kuiter, 1996a).

Aggregation

Footballer Sweep aggregate in large schools near offshore reefs in W.A (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986; Edgar, 2000), but are also found in small groups, feeding on the substrate amongst rocks that are covered with short macroalgae (Kuiter, 1996a).

Fisheries / Trade Information

Commercial

The species has some importance in the aquarium trade (Froese and Pauly, 2007). The extent to which the species is collected in South Australia for this purpose is not known for this report; however, the Footballer Sweep is amongst the top 40 of about 250 fish species taken commercially in W.A. for the aquarium trade. Since 1976, approximately 2,700 Footballer Sweep are reported to have been taken by that fishery, and between the years 2000 and 2003, the annual average catch was reported to be about 141 individuals (W.A. Department of Fisheries, 2004b). In 2005, specimens were being sold for US$30 each (Ryan and Clarke, 2005).
Bromhead and Bolton (2005) reported Neatypus obliquus to be part of the bycatch in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery. It is noted that the species was not recorded during a bycatch monitoring program (Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program) during the early 2000s (Brown and Knuckey, 2002).
In W.A., Footballer is recorded as part of the 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 compilation of bycatch data in these fisheries (McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003), Footballer is caught in Region 3 (between longitudes 116°E and 119°E); Region 4 (between longitude 116°E and latitude 33°S) and Region 5 (between latitudes 33°S and 30°S) of these fisheries. During 1994-99, the total catch for the three regions ranged between 145kg and 711kg per annum, with catches of ~500kg or more in three of the 5 years. As shown in Table 7, almost all of the annual bycatch of Western Footballer is taken by gillnet (McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003).

Table 7 Reported Gillnet Bycatch (kg live weight) of Western Footballer in the JASDGDLF and WCDGDLF in W.A., 1994 to 1999
	Region 3	Region 4	Region 5
1994-95	2	0	143
1995-96	373 (+ 50kg long-line)	227	61
1996-97	397	57	42
1997-98	373  (+ 5kg long-line)	176	38
1998-99	46	25	30 (+ 38kg long-line)
(compiled from McAuley and Simpfendorfer, 2003)

Footballer Sweep is a minor part of the bycatch in the Western Deepwater Trawl Fishery in W.A., with 3 specimens reported in 2000/01, and none in other years during the past decade to 2004 (AFMA, 2004f). According to Bromhead and Bolton (2005), N. obliquus specimens caught in that fishery are retained as by-product.

Recreational

Recreational fishing clubs and associations keep records of the maximum sizes caught (e.g. Australian Anglers Association, W.A. Division; Lancelin Aquatic and Angling Club Inc.).
There are no data available on the capture of this species by spear fishers, but it could be assumed that Footballer Sweep would be vulnerable to capture by this method, at the shallow end of the depth range.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species, and Threatening Processes

In the shallower part of the depth range, this aggregating reef species is vulnerable to capture (line fishing, gill net fishing, live collecting, and possibly spear-fishing). Fishing has the potential to have an impact at localised scales, but there are no data.
Footballer Sweep is a 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

More information is required on the relative abundance of this species in central and western South Australia.
Some aspects of the biology are not well known, such as longevity, and reproduction.
Species-specific recreational catch statistics (line, spear and other methods) are required over space and time.
If possible, bycatch of this species in commercial line, gill-net and trawl fisheries should be documented over space and time, in both State-managed and Commonwealth-managed fisheries. It is noted that there are some bycatch data from the mid- to late-1990s in the W.A. gillnet and long-line fisheries, as well as information on the very minor catches in the W.A. Deepwater Trawl Fishery, plus aggregated catch data for the W.A. aquarium fishery. Apart from these data (the most detailed of which are from the 1990s), there are no data from any other fishery over the species’ range, particularly during the 2000s.
Measures to reduce the bycatch of reef-associated Sweep species in gill-nets, on lines and in rock lobster pots should be encouraged.
An assessment is required of the sustainability of the annual take for the aquarium industry (and potential population impacts).

Other Information

The Footballer Sweep is promoted as one of the common species that can be observed at various popular dive sites in W.A., such as Rottnest Island, and Mindarie. The species is quite curious, and in some popular diving areas, individual Footballer Sweep or small groups follow divers around (in some cases, to be fed).
Footballer Sweep is found in a number of marine protected areas in W.A., such as Jurien Bay (Anonymous, in Keesing and Hyne, 2005).