© 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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Rough Anglerfish

Family Name:	Antennariidae
Scientific Name:	Kuiterichthys furcipilis (Cuvier, 1817)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient
Rationale:  Although the Rough Anglerfish has a broad geographic distribution, and broad depth range on the continental shelf, it is included here because (i) the presence of this species (or a closely related one) in South Australia is based on very few records; (ii) temperate anglerfishes in general are potentially vulnerable to population decline, due to their strong site association, low fecundity, benthic reproduction and (probably) restricted dispersal ability; (iii) the species is vulnerable to capture in prawn trawls in S.A., but there are insufficient data to determine the potential population impacts; (iv) in the south-eastern part of the range, the species is caught by scallop dredges and fish trawls (and is classified as being susceptible to population impacts from capture in trawls), and is also taken for the aquarium trade; and (v) there is little information on the distribution and relative abundance or rarity of this species in the southern part of the range (including S.A.), and few data on the habitat requirements, and biology of this species.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Southern Australia

Kuiter (1993) and Pietsch (in Gomon et al., 1994) reported that the Rough Anglerfish ranges across southern Australia from New South Wales through to the Recherche Archipelago in Western Australia (but see below).
The distribution includes Tasmania (Australian Museum records, Museum of Victoria records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).
There are numerous museum records from southeastern Australia.
There are two records of a “Kuiterichthys species” from southern W.A. (Western Australian Museum records). The western form may be a separate species.
Kan et al. (1995) reported K. furcipilis in fisheries bycatch from Papua New Guinea, and stated that the record was the first for that country. It is not known for this report whether the PNG record was a misidentification.

South Australia

Examples of locations in South Australia where the species has been recorded include the Great Australian Bight (SARDI data, 2002; South Australian Museum record F10476, cited by R. Foster, pers comm., 2006), and waters off Venus Bay (i.e. Anxious Bay) (South Australian Museum data, 1982, 1983; S.A. Museum data, cited by R. Foster, 2007).
There is a survey record from S.A., reportedly this species, from Port Giles, in western Gulf St Vincent (see Fairhead et al., 2002a). For this report, it is not known whether the Port Giles record was a misidentification.

Habitat

The Rough Anglerfish has a wide depth range across the continental shelf (e.g. from 9m – 240m, but mostly taken from around 90m deep) (Pietsch, in Gomon et al., 1994). In 2002, a specimen from 188m deep was taken in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (South Australian Museum record F10476, cited by R. Foster, pers comm., 2006).
In Tasmania, the Rough Anglerfish occurs in shallower water, compared with populations in other parts of the range (Pietsch, in Gomon et al., 1994).

Notes on the Biology

Growth

The species grows to around 15cm (Kuiter, 1993; Pietsch, in Gomon et al., 1994).

Reproduction

As is the case with some other species in the Antennariidae, Kuiterichthys is reported to be oviparous, with the eggs being produced in a gelatinous mass, where they remain embedded until hatching (Breder and Rosen, 1966, and Thresher, 1984, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).

Other Information

Kuiterichthys does not have a swim bladder (Pietsch, 2005).

Fisheries Information

In south-eastern Australia (including Tasmanian wasters), the Rough Anglerfish is occasionally taken in trawls, and by scallop dredges (Kuiter, 1993; Pietsch, in Gomon et al., 1994).
In the otter trawl sub-fishery of the South East Trawl Fishery, an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) reported that in 1 trawl shot, about 1kg of K. furcipilis was discarded (Wayte et al., 2004).
In N.S.W., Rough Anglerfish is a minor component of the bycatch (i.e. less than 1% occurrence across all trawls) in the shelf sector of the Ocean Prawn Trawl fishery (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
In Tasmania, under the Tasmanian Fisheries (Scalefish) Rules 2004, Regulation 100, there is a commercial fishing possession limitation of a maximum of 3 Rough Anglerfish per licence holder per day (due to the development of a separate aquarium fishery, in which this species was previously listed as one with market potential – see DPIF Tasmania, 1998). Data on the annual catch (and by-catch) of Rough Anglerfish for the aquarium market are not available for this report.
The species is likely to be a component of the prawn trawl bycatch in the eastern Great Australian Bight (based on several trawl-caught specimens from 1982 and 1983, housed at S.A. Museum).

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species and Threatening Processes

The species has rarely been recorded in S.A., and its relative abundance and distribution are poorly known.
Rough Anglerfish is a benthic species on the continental shelf. As evidenced by the records of this species in the bycatch of benthic trawls and scallop dredges, individuals are susceptible to capture by such fishing gear. In a recent draft ecological risk assessment of the South East Trawl and Danish Seine Fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), 3 “productivity attributes” and 6 “attributes of susceptibility” for K. furcipilis were used to categorise it as a “medium risk” species in terms of susceptibility to population impacts from trawling. The species is also susceptible to capture in prawn trawls, including parts of South Australia (e.g. eastern Great Australian Bight).
Anglerfishes have low fecundity; benthic reproduction and restricted larval dispersal, which are characteristics that increase the vulnerability of such fishes to population decline (e.g. see Pogonoski et al., 2002, for information on the vulnerability of other fish families with similar reproductive characteristics).
Some temperate anglerfishes are sought after in the specialist aquarium trade (which may cause localised population depletion), but there is no information on the capture of this species in southern Australia for that purpose.

Research Requirements

Surveys are required to determine the distribution of this species in South Australia.
Given that there are records of specimens reported to be K. furcipilis ranging from Tasmania in the south to Papua New Guinea in the north, the taxonomy of specimens across the range should be checked. In southern Australia, the taxonomic relation between specimens from eastern, southern and western Australia should be determined.
There is little information on the relative abundance, habitat and biology of this species.
Bycatch of this species in trawl fisheries should be quantified over space and time. Specimens collected in trawl bycatch, with relevant collecting details, should be sent to the South Australian Museum.

Management Requirements

Measures to reduce bycatch in trawls and other fisheries are required.

Other Information

The species has been recorded in the Great Australian Bight Marine Park (South Australian Museum record F10476, cited by R. Foster, pers comm., 2006).