© 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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Purple Wrasse / Saddled Wrasse / Yellow-saddled Wrasse

Family Name:	Labridae
Scientific Name:	Notolabrus fucicola (Richardson, 1840)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient
Rationale:  Included here because (i) Purple Wrasse is a site-associated Labrid, and members of the family are potentially vulnerable to decline due to their reef association, and demography / life history characteristics; (ii) although N. fucicola is considered common on coastal reefs in Tasmania and Victoria, it is found in a limited part of S.A. (i.e. Kangaroo Island and the South-East), and in lesser numbers than in the south eastern States; (iii) there appears to be no information on population sizes, and little information on population dynamics of this species in southern Australian waters, and there are no data on the extent or impact of commercial and recreational fishing on this site-associated reef fish in S.A., the western edge of its range.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Southern Australia and New Zealand

In Australia, Notolabrus fucicola is considered common on shallow coastal rocky reefs of Tasmania (including the Kent Group) and Victoria, occurring in smaller numbers in southern N.S.W. and eastern S.A. (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986, 2001; Australian Museum, 2003c; Edmunds and Hart, 2003).
IMCRA Technical Group (1996) considered N. fucicola to be one of the indicator species for the Tasmanian Province, which extends from the north-eastern tip of Tasmania at Cape Naturaliste, encircling the west, south and east coasts, up to Cape Grim at its north-western extremity. The species is particularly abundant in northern and north-eastern Tasmania (see Barrett and Wilcox, 2001, for examples), but occurs throughout that State, including southern and western Tasmania (Edgar, 1991).
Purple Wrasse is one of the dominant components of the fish fauna in some areas of Victoria, such as Phillip Island, and reefs off Wilsons Promontory (Edmunds et al., 2003).
The species also occurs in New Zealand (Kuiter, 1993; Gomon and Russell, in Gomon et al., 1994), where it is named the Banded Wrasse (Kelleher et al., 1995; Denny and Schiel, 2001).

South Australia

Kangaroo Island and Robe are considered the western limits in South Australia (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986 and 2001; Gomon and Russell, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000).
Examples of locations in S.A. where the species has been recorded include eastern Kangaroo Island (e.g. Moncrieff Bay / Cape Willoughby area); northern Kangaroo I. (e.g. Western River Cove and Snug Cove); southern Kangaroo I. (e.g. Hanson Bay) and the upper South East (e.g. Margaret Brock Reef near Cape Jaffa, and Robe area) (Hutchins and Swainston, 2001; D. Muirhead, unpubl. data, 2001 and 2002; S.A. Museum record, cited in OZCAM database, 2004; S. Shepherd, K. Brown and A. Brown, unpubl. data, 2002; S. Shepherd and H. Bartram, unpubl. data, 2004; Shepherd and Baker, in press).
During a survey of the nearshore reef fish at various sites around Kangaroo Island, a density of 10 Purple Wrasse per 2000m² was recorded at a 5m deep site off Hanson Bay, southern Kangaroo Island (S. Shepherd and H. Bartram, unpubl. data, 2004).

Habitat

Purple Wrasse is found in temperate waters, in habitats such as shallow kelp beds, down to deeper rocky reefs (to around 90m) (May and Maxwell, 1986; Kuiter, 1993; Australian Museum, 2003c). Purple Wrasse is also found together with Blue-throated Wrasse in some coastal reef areas (Gomon and Russell, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000).
In northern Tasmania, the species has been recorded as common on shallow reefs (0m – 5+m) with macroalgae cover such as Durvillea potatorum, Phyllospora comosa, and Ecklonia radiata (Barrett and Wilcox, 2001). The species is also considered to be a common inhabitant of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis) “forests” in Tasmania (uncited reference, in Edyvane, 2003).

Notes on the Biology

Age and Growth

In Australia, Purple Wrasse is reported to grow to around 38 cm (May and Maxwell, 1986; Gomon and Russell, in Gomon et al., 1994) or 45 cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986 and 2001; Australian Museum, 2003c). In New Zealand, the species is reported to grow to 60 cm (Denny and Schiel, 2002).
The maximum size recorded by the Australian Anglers Association Records Authority is 0.795kg (Australian Anglers Association, 2003).
In Australia, maximum age is estimated to be 17 years (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b) or 20 years (Ewing et al., 2003). In New Zealand, N. fucicola is reported to live for more than 25 years (Denny, 1998, cited in Denny and Schiel, 2002).

Diet and Feeding Behaviour

The species is reported to be a selective forager, feeding mainly on small, hard-shelled animals like crabs and gastropods (Russell, 1983, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2005). A study in New Zealand has shown that N. fucicola is a generalist predator, the major prey items being bivalves, amphipods, and crabs, which vary temporally in the diet (Denny and Schiel, 2001). The N.Z. study reported that small Purple Wrasse (100-180 mm) ate mostly amphipods and isopods, whereas larger fish (>180 mm) ate mainly bivalves, crabs, and gastropods (Denny and Schiel, 2001). In Tasmania, Fenton (1996) recorded mysids in the diet of N. fucicola.
Wrasse found around reef areas will aggressively compete with other fish species for territory and food items (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b).

Reproduction

In Tasmania, spawning occurs between August and January (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b). A New Zealand study of the reproductive biology (Denny and Schiel, 2002) has shown that the species is an asynchronous spawner, and follows the typical Labrid spring-summer (July-December) seasonal pattern of reproduction.
Compared with many other temperate Labrids that are protogynous hermaphrodites, Barrett (1995b) and Denny and Schiel (2002) reported N. fucicola to be a “secondary gonochorist”, where individuals change sex before maturation. In fish of this reproductive mode, all fish initially develop as females with some changing sex to males before maturation (and they function only as a male or a female, but not both) (Denny and Schiel, 2002). During a study in New Zealand of the reproductive biology, although no transitional gonads were found in N. fucicola individuals, it was considered possible that particular environmental or social conditions could induce (post-maturation) sex change in at least a small proportion of N. fucicola fish (Denny and Schiel, 2002).
Although N. fucicola is dichromatic, it is not sexually dimorphic. The species is also “monandric”, where only one morphological male type is present in a group (Denny and Schiel, 2002).

Other Information

Barrett (1995a) reported that in Tasmania, the species is not as territorial as some of the sex-changing Labrids, and during a study at one particular reef, individuals of N. fucicola moved further than 1 hectare during the study period, and the home range was estimated to be more than 1750m² (Barrett, 1995a, cited by Ward et al., 2001). In a more recent Tasmanian study, individuals displayed a stronger association with particular reefs (Edgar et al., 2004) compared with the earlier study. The study of fish movements at 3 reefs in eastern Tasmania showed that N. fucicola generally moved only a small distance (<100m) from the home reefs, during the period of the study (1 year) (Edgar et al., 2004). During that study, the N. fucicola fish moved double the distance away from the home reef at two sites, compared with the third (Edgar et al., 2004).

Fisheries Information

Commercial – Southern Australia

Purple Wrasse is one of the wrasse species taken by commercial fishers with specific licences in Victoria / Bass Strait and Tasmania, who also target Blue-throated Wrasse, for the premium “live food fish” export trade (SIV, 2003; DPIWE, 2003a). Wrasses are targeted by commercial fishers in Tasmanian waters for this growing trade (Cappo et al., 1998; Murphy and Lyle, 1999). In Tasmania, developments in Australian and international markets and fish handling have recently seen significant increases in effort targeted at wrasses, mainly Blue-throated Wrasse and Purple Wrasse. N. fucicola is listed among the top 5 fish species / groups that suffer catch and release mortality by line fishing in Tasmania (Macleay et al., 2002). In addition to the target fishery, the species is also a bycatch of the fishery for Banded Morwong, but Purple Wrasse are more vulnerable to capture using gillnets of smaller mesh sizes (e.g. 89mm) than are common in the fishery (Murphy and Lyle, 1999). Landings of both Purple Wrasse and Blue-throated Wrasse have increased during the past decade. The commercial wrasse fishery, which uses hand-lines, fish traps and other gear, is now considered to be one of the most important scalefish fisheries in Tasmania (TAFI, 2003). In Tasmania, catches of Purple Wrasse and Blue-throated Wrasse are combined (Table 14).

Table 14 Commercial catches of Blue-Throated and Purple Wrasse in Tasmania, 1990-2003
Financial Year		Catch (t)
1990/91		<80
1991/92		<80
1992/93		100
1993/94		-
1994/95		175
1995/96		80
1996/97		-
1997/98		99 (or 110)
1998/99		98
1999/00		137
2000/01		86 (or 88)
2001/02		90
2002/03		87
(DPIWE statistics, 2002; DPIWE web site, 2003; ABARE and FRDC, 2004).

In Victoria, Purple Wrasse was traditionally used as bait for catching rock lobsters; however, largely due to the growing Asian culture in Australia, this species has increased its value as an eating fish (SIV, 2003). Both Purple Wrasse and Blue-throated Wrasse became a sought-after commodity for local and interstate restaurants during the 1990s, and a live fishery developed in Victoria at that time. Wrasse are taken along the entire Victorian coast, but catches have been the highest off the central coast (Port Phillip Heads, Western Port, and Wilson’s Promontory), and the west coast of Victoria (Portland, Port Fairy) in recent years (DPI Victoria, 2004). Catches of Purple Wrasse are highest in the Western coastal section of Victoria. By the late 1990s, the Victorian fishery was harvesting approximately 80 tonnes of wrasse per year (N. tetricus and N. fucicola combined) from coastal waters (Smith, 2003). In 1997, fishing restrictions were put in place, such as limitations on the number of operators in the fishery. Fishers who could show evidence of a substantial involvement in catching live wrasse were granted an access licence to continue their activity, and a bycatch limit for all other fishers was set, at a maximum level of 8 fish per day (SIV, 2003). The number of Wrasse (Ocean) Access licence holders in Victoria in 2003 and 2004, was 59 and 51 respectively. Baited hand lines with modified hooks (to enable quick release of fish) are used to catch the wrasse. Saddled Wrasses are taken mainly in the depth range 10m – 30m (DPI Victoria, 2004). When caught, wrasses are placed into a live holding tank on the boat. A small amount (10 percent) of wrasse is taken as bycatch on long lines, mesh nets and fish traps (SIV, 2003). The wrasse are caught and sold live, and the major market is in Sydney, where wrasses are sold to Asian restaurants. The preferred size for markets is about 30 cm total length (SIV, 2003). Production figures from DPI Victoria (Anonymous, 2002a; DNRE, Victoria, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) for Purple Wrasse catches, for the “live food fish” fishery, are as follows (Table 15).

Table 15 Commercial catch of Wrasse in Victorian waters 1996 – 2005
Year	Saddled Wrasse (Purple Wrasse) Catch (t)	Unspecified Wrasse Catch (t)
1996/97	~ 1	~ 50
1997/98	~ 6	62
1998/99	13	64
1999/00	10	40
2000/01	5	33
2001/02	5	36
2002/03	7	30
2003/04	8	26
	2	25
(not including Blue-throated Wrasse)

The proportion of Purple Wrasse in the commercial wrasse catch in South Australia, is not known for this report, because wrasse catches are not recorded to species level; however the number of N. fucicola taken is likely to be small, considering the limited distribution of the species in S.A., and the fact that the three major species that are taken are reported to be N. tetricus, N. parilus, and Pictilabrus laticlavius (e.g. see Knight and Johnson, 1999).
In the south-east, Purple Wrasse is a minor bycatch species in the Southern Shark Fishery in Bass Strait (Walker et al., 2003).
Wrasses are some of the main bycatch species used as bait in the South Australian Rock Lobster fishery (Sloan, 2003a). It is not known for this report what proportion of the wrasse bycatch is Purple Wrasse; however, given the distribution of this species, it is likely that Purple Wrasse may be part of the bycatch South East of South Australia and off Kangaroo Island. The species is also part of the rock lobster fishery bycatch in Tasmania. In a study of bycatch in the Tasmanian Rock Lobster fishery, 18,302 rock lobster pots (without escape gaps) were examined between 1992 and 1997. During that period, 883 Purple Wrasse were caught (i.e. an estimate of 21 pot-lifts required for the capture of 1 animal) (Frusher and Gibson, 1998, cited by Ford, 2001). The study also showed that lobster pots with escape gaps can significantly reduce the number of wrasses caught (Frusher and Gibson, 1998, cited by Ford, 2001).

Recreational – Southern Australia

The species is taken by recreational fishers in some areas, and there are examples of record sizes, held by angling clubs (e.g. Australian Anglers Association, 2003).
Wrasses (mostly Purple Wrasse and Blue-throated Wrasse) are taken by recreational fishers in Tasmania waters, using lines and “graball” nets. Many of the wrasses that are taken are used as rock lobster bait (DPIWE Tasmania web site, 2002). There are also records of Purple Wrasse being taken by recreational gillnets in Tasmania (Lyle et al., 2000).
The species is also taken by spear fishers. The recorded maximum size of Purple Wrasse taken by spear fishing was a specimen of 2.190kg, caught at Grindstone Bay in Tasmania, in 1979 (Hutchins and Swainston, 2001; Australian Underwater Federation Inc., 2003).
The aggressive (and competitive) behaviour of wrasses makes them prone to easy capture by fishing from rocks, wharves and boats (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b).
In Tasmania, the recreational fishing size limit is 30 cm. Previously, there was a daily bag limit of 30 fish, and a possession limit of 45 (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b); however since November 30^th 2004, the bag limit has been replaced by a personal possession limit of 10 wrasse (DPIWE web site, January, 2005).

New Zealand

Purple Wrasse is listed as a commercial species in New Zealand (NZ Ministry of Fisheries web site, January 2005); however catch details are not available for this report.
Purple (= Banded) Wrasse is also caught by charter boats in New Zealand, and companies in some areas advertise this species as one that is likely to be caught on the charter trips.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species

Purple Wrasse is a site-associated Labrid, and members of the family are potentially vulnerable to decline due to their strong association with shallow subtidal reefs, and demography / life history characteristics.
The species has been described as one of low resilience to exploitation, in terms of minimum population doubling time (based on growth data) (Froese and Pauly, 2006).
Although N. fucicola is considered common on coastal reefs in Tasmania and Victoria, it is found in a limited part of S.A. (i.e. Kangaroo Island and the South-East). There appears to be no information on population sizes or relative abundance, and little information on population dynamics of this species, particularly in the western part of the range (i.e. South Australia). Data are also lacking on the extent and potential impact of commercial and recreational fishing on this site-associated reef fish, in the western part of its range.

Threatening Processes

Fishing (hook and line, spear, and other methods) is the major threat to this species, and fishing regulations are required in areas where the species is taken, particularly in commercial quantities, and in nearshore areas where recreational fishing is intense, and unmonitored.
Wrasses are commonly found around reef areas where they will aggressively compete with other fish species for territory and food items. This aggressive behaviour makes wrasses prone to easy capture by fishing from rocks, wharves and boats. A characteristic of wrasse when hooked is that they will dive in between rock crevices or weed in an effort to evade capture (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b). Wrasses are active feeders during the day, and therefore easily take baits. In Tasmania, localised stock depletion has been reported on some reefs, due to heavy fishing pressures, particularly by line fishing, and to a letter extent, netting (DPIWE website, 2002; DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b).
In Victoria, period surveys on a metropolitan reef over a long period have shown that the average number of N. fucicola recorded in the area decreased from an average of 100 sighted per 6 transects in 1959, to 20 sighted in 1964, and 0 in both 1982 and 2006 (Nevill, 2006). The ease with which this species can be taken by spearfishers in the area was considered to contribute to the decline in Purple Wrasse numbers over time (Nevill, 2006).
In Tasmania, where Purple Wrasse are commonly used for bait in lobster pots due to their ease of capture and good numbers, there may be localised stock depletion on some reef areas due to heavy fishing pressures (DPIWE Tasmania, 2003b).
In some areas (e.g. Tasmania), the species is strongly associated with kelp beds. Any processes that might affect the distribution and/or abundance of kelp beds (see Edyvane, 2003) have the potential to adversely affect populations of this species.

Research Requirements

In South Australia, the species has a limited geographical range, and is found in lower abundance than in eastern States; however there a lack of quantitative data on the relative abundance / populations sizes within the South Australian part of the range.
The catch of this species in the S.A. Marine Scalefish Fishery should be quantified. Wrasses are currently reported only to family level in the Marine Scalefish Fishery.
Bycatch of Purple Wrasse in the S.A. Rock Lobster fishery should be quantified.
Research in Tasmania has shown that although wrasse are comparatively short-lived, attaining maturity well before they are recruited to the fishery, they demonstrate strong site attachment and, therefore, assessment should be based on an appropriate spatial scale. Collection and analysis of catch and effort data at a broad scale (e.g. fishing block) may mask more localised changes in abundance (Lyle and Jordan, 1999), and therefore local population declines may be harder to detect.
In Tasmania and Victoria, where the species is taken commercially, assessment is required of the population impacts of the size selectivity in the fishery, according to the gear used (mainly lines and traps) and the legal minimum and maximum sizes (i.e. mid-size fish are preferentially targeted).

Management Requirements

Commercial catches of wrasses in State waters should be separated by species, and catch statistics should be monitored over space and time.
Where possible, measures are required in S.A. to reduce the bycatch of this species in the Marine Scalefish Fishery and the Rock Lobster fishery.
In Victoria and Tasmania, a legal minimum size limit should apply to (and be enforced in) the commercial fishery (see Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, 2004).
There is some indirect evidence that marine protected areas in which fishing is restricted, can benefit populations of Purple Wrasse. In Victoria, this species is subject to considerable fishing pressure for the live fish market (Edmunds et al., 2003), and surveys in the Bunurong Marine National Park showed that the abundance of Purple Wrasse, including large individuals, was greater in the centre of the reserve than around the “edges” (i.e. eastern and western sides). In Tasmania, a study of movements of reef fish concluded that the sedentary nature of Labrids such as N. fucicola indicates that relatively small (1km diameter) marine protected areas should generally provide conservation benefits for these fishes, but with few `spill-over' benefits in surrounding areas (Edgar et al., 2004).
Given that S.A. is at the edge of the range of this species, plans for marine protected areas in the southern part of S.A. should give due consideration to the declaration of sanctuary zones in a number of reef habitats, that include such site-associated species as Purple Wrasse.

Other Information

Purple Wrasse mates with Blue-throated Wrasse in some coastal areas where they co-occur, producing distinctive hybrids (Gomon and Russell, in Gomon et al., 1994; Edgar, 2000).
The species occurs in many of the Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries in Victoria (e.g. see Porter, 1999; survey data by Norman and Marshall, University of Melbourne, 2000; Edmunds et al., 2003; Plummer et al., 2003). Examples include Bunurong (where Purple Wrasse is one of the dominant reef fish species), Barwon Bluff, Cape Howe, Gabo Island, Popes Eye, Point Nepean, Port Phillip Heads (N.B. the previous Point Lonsdale and Popes Eye Marine Reserves are now part of Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park) and Discovery Bay, and the species is a dominant part of the fish fauna surveyed on high profile reef in the shallow subtidal, in the latter area. Purple Wrasse is also one of the dominant fish species in the Wilsons Promontory and Corner Inlet area (Turner and Norman, 1998), including the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park (Edmunds et al., 2003).
Purple Wrasse occurs in a number of marine reserves in Tasmania, including Maria Island and Port Davey / Bathurst Harbour (Parks and Wildlife Service, 1998; DPIWE, 2005e).
Purple Wrasse are found in a number of marine reserves in New Zealand, such as Pohatu, Te Whanganui-A-Hei, Long Island-Kokomohua, Poor Knights Islands, and others (New Zealand Department of Conservation web site, January 2005).
University-based research into aspects of the ecology of N. fucicola is being undertaken on the east coast of Tasmania, with an emphasis on larval taxonomy, settlement ecology and growth modelling (University of Tasmania, School of Zoology website, 2003).
In Tasmania and Victoria, information is being collected on the species composition, size/age composition and structure of the fishery, to provide to managers and industry, necessary information on the status and long-term sustainability of the resource. Knowledge of such information is essential when examining trends in catch and catch per unit effort, parameters that may provide suitable fishery and biological reference points for this fishery. The research is being conducted through both sampling from commercial vessels around the State, and fishery independent sampling at sites along the east and south coasts (Smith, 2003; TAFI, 2003).

Support for S.A. Listing:

Barry Hutchins (ex-Western Australian Museum)