© 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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Gale’s Pipefish / Gales Pipefish

Family Name:	Syngnathidae
Scientific Name:	Campichthys galei (Duncker, 1909)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient
Rationale:  Gale’s Pipefish is included here because (i) it is a species of syngnathid, from a family whose members are considered to have vulnerable population characteristics; (ii) the species may occur over a relatively narrow depth range (i.e. normally known from less than 20m); (iii) South Australia is at the edge of the geographic range, and the species is known in S.A. from very few records, to date only in Spencer Gulf; (iv) little is known of the relative abundance in most parts of the  range, or of the biology, population dynamics and ecology of this species; (v) given the distribution, habitat and currently known depth range, the species is likely to occur in prawn trawling grounds in South Australia, but there are no species-specific data; and (vi) alteration and degradation of inshore habitats may be a potential threat to the survival of this species, but there are no species-specific data; examples could include dredging of channels (for maintenance etc), seagrass decline from residential, industrial, and rural discharges into coastal waters (from point sources and diffuse sources), coastal developments, trawling / netting in seagrass beds, power boating (and consequent disturbance of benthic habitat, and siltation) in shallow waters where the species is present. Surveys in S.A. are required in rubble and seagrass habitats, particularly in the gulfs region, and eastern Great Australian Bight, to better determine the distribution and relative abundance of this species in this State.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

All syngnathids are subject to the export controls of the Commonwealth Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982 from 1 January 1998.
All syngnathids and solenostomids are listed marine species under s248 of the EPBC Act 1999
Since January 2006, fishes in the Syngnathidae (seadragons, pipefish, pipehorses) have been formally protected in South Australia, under the Fisheries (General) Variation Regulations 2006 of the South Australian Fisheries Act.

Distribution

Southern Australia

Gale’s Pipefish is known from Western Australia (e.g. Lucky Bay, Point Peron – the type locality, Rottnest Island and Shark Bay), through to South Australia (Dawson, in Gomon et al., 1994; USNM data, cited in Eschmeyer, 2004).
 

South Australia

Examples of verified records in South Australia include Point Turton Jetty, in south-eastern Spencer Gulf, and Marum I., Sir Joseph Banks Group in south-western Spencer Gulf (South Australian Museum records, cited by R. Foster, pers. comm. 2007). The species has been reported from seagrass trawl samples in Spencer Gulf (B. McDonald, pers. comm., cited by Brook, 2002).

Habitat

C. galei is found on shallow rubble substrates (Kuiter, 2000) and in seagrass beds (B. McDonald, unpubl. data, 2001), and ‘broken bottom’ habitat, comprising a mix of seagrass bed margins, shell or rubble bottom, sand flats with patchy seagrass or detritus (Browne, 2004). At the Sir Joseph Banks Group islands, the species has been recorded in mixed habitat of reef, rubble, sand and sparse Posidonia seagrass, at ~ 6m depth (R. Foster, S.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2007).  In south-western W.A., C. galei has been recorded occasionally on reefs in mainland bays (Hutchins, 2005).
To date, the species has been recorded to around 18m (Dawson, 1985, and in Gomon et al., 1994; Kuiter, 1996a and 1996b). The type specimen from Point Peron in W.A., was taken in waters less than 7m (USNM data, cited in Eschmeyer, 2004).
 

Notes on the Biology

The species is small, and grows to at least 6 cm (Dawson, in Gomon et al., 1994).
The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch under the tail. Males may be brooding at 3 - 4 cm SL (Dawson, 1985). 
 

Fisheries Information

The species is listed as possibly being part of the bycatch in the otter trawl component of the South East Trawl Fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), but there are no bycatch data available. Given the habitat of this species, the frequency of capture is likely to be low, if at all.
 

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species, and Threatening Processes

Many of the life history characteristics of syngnathids make them susceptible to impacts, and vulnerable to population decline. Such characteristics include low population densities; strong habitat association; small home range sizes and low mobility; possible low rates of natural adult mortality (due to low levels of predation, hence human-induced mortality may disrupt population dynamics); monogamy and localised reproduction; aggregation (in some species) for feeding and/or breeding; small brood sizes, and strong association between adults and young.
Alteration and degradation of inshore habitats may be a potential threat to the survival of this species, but there are no species-specific data; examples could include dredging of channels (for maintenance etc); seagrass decline from residential, industrial, and rural discharges into coastal waters (from point sources and diffuse sources); coastal developments; trawling / netting in seagrass beds; and power boating (and consequent disturbance of benthic habitat, and siltation) in shallow waters where the species is present.
Given the distribution, habitat and currently known depth range, the species is likely to occur in prawn trawling grounds in South Australia, but there are no species-specific data.
It is noted that in draft ecological risk assessments, Gales Pipefish was assessed as being at “medium risk” of population impacts from operation of the otter trawl component of the South East Trawl Fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), and from operation of the southern shark gillnet sub-fishery; southern shark demersal long-line sub-fishery; scalefish demersal long-line sub-fishery; scalefish automatic long-line sub-fishery, and the scalefish drop-line sub-fishery, of the Gillnet, Hook and Trap Fishery (Webb et al., 2004). Bycatch information for Gales Pipefish is not available in any of these fisheries. Given the habitat and currently known depth range of Gales Pipefish, risk of capture in these Commonwealth-managed fisheries is likely to be low.
 

Research Requirements

Surveys in suitable habitat are required to better determine the distribution and relative abundance of this species, the critical habitat requirements, and full depth range. 
Very little is known of the biology (including longevity, reproduction etc) and ecology of this species.
Species-specific information is required on the bycatch (if any) of this species in prawn trawl fisheries in South Australia.
 

Management Requirements

Generally, ongoing protection from degradation is required for nearshore seagrass, rubble and reef  habitats.
If the species is present in the bycatch of coastal fisheries (such as prawn trawls), such information should be recorded over space and time, and methods to reduce the bycatch of syngnathid fishes should be adopted where possible. As indicated in Research Requirements above, in S.A. a system should be developed for the ongoing collection and monitoring of bycatch data from the Gulf St Vincent Prawn Fishery and the West Coast Prawn Fishery (as currently occurs in the Spencer Gulf Prawn Trawl Fishery), sufficient to enable identification of long-term trends in bycatch (Australian Government DEH, 2004b; Dixon et al., 2005). It is noted that prawn fisheries in southern Australia have made significant efforts during the past decades to reduce the bycatch of bony fishes. Examples for Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent include the spatial and temporal organisation and “real time” management of the fishing fleet in some areas (e.g. Spencer Gulf) to minimise capture of undersized prawns and bycatch species, and developments in gear design to reduce bycatch, such as square-mesh cod-ends, bycatch chutes, hopper/conveyor systems, and the fitting of exclusion devices (e.g. MacDonald, 1998; Carrick, 1997; Broadhurst et al., 1999; South Australian Prawn Industry Association web site, 2000; PIRSA, 2003).
Measures (such as improvements in net design) to reduce the bycatch of benthic fish species in all trawl fisheries are recommended.
Although the main part of this species’ range is likely to be in waters shallower than those worked by Commonwealth-managed trawl fisheries, bycatch should be monitored for the presence of Gale’s Pipefish, in fisheries for which it has been stated as being at “medium risk” of population impacts (e.g. in components of the SETF and GHAT – see above).
 

Other Information

There are few records of this species, due to its small size (to 6cm) (Dawson, in Gomon et al., 1994; Kuiter, 2000), and, according to Dawson (in Gomon et al., 1994) its apparent preference for habitats away from shore, where trawling with fine mesh nets would be required for capture.
The species might occur in the S.A. waters component of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park, but there are no records to date.
The species is reported to have a low risk of population impacts from the operation of the Great Australian Bight Trawl fishery (Daley et al., 2006), and the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery (AFMA, 2006d). 
 

Support for S.A. Listing:

Graham Edgar (University of Tasmania), who supported a listing under a threatened category, and Barry Hutchins (WA Museum), who recommended Data Deficient category.