© 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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Snipefish / Common Snipefish / Longspine Snipefish

Family Name:	Macroramphosidae
Scientific Name:	Macroramphosus scolopax (Linnaeus, 1758)
Recommended Status in S.A:	(i) Least Concern in S.A. waters; (ii) Data Deficient, possibly Near Threatened in Commonwealth waters of south-eastern Australia
Rationale:  Although the Common Snipefish has a very broad geographic distribution and depth range, it is included here because (i) members of the snipefish family likely play an important ecological role, due to their natural abundance, diet, and consumption by a wide variety of predators; (ii) M. scolopax is vulnerable to capture by trawl and other gear, and is a discarded bycatch in a number of Commonwealth-managed fisheries (such as the South East Trawl Fishery and the Great Australian bight Trawl Fishery), as well as State-managed fisheries (mainly in south-eastern Australia); (iii) in a draft risk assessment for the SETF and GABTF, the species has been listed as “medium risk” in terms of population impacts from trawl capture in those fisheries; and (iv) there is little information about the biology (such as fecundity, annual recruitment strength, and longevity), population dynamics, or relative abundance of this species in southern Australian waters. The species is listed here as Least Concern in S.A. waters because the main part of the depth range is not in State-managed continental shelf waters, but in deeper, Commonwealth-managed waters, as are the major threatening processes.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

General

The identity of the Snipefish Macroramphosus scolopax is in need of revision (Australian Museum, 2004u). Currently, M. scolopax is considered to be the most widespread species in the Macroramphosidae family, found in all oceans, between 20º north and 48º south, and generally, ranging across the tropical and temperate Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, possibly worldwide (Fritzsche and Thiesfeld, 1999; Stewart and Roberts, 2004). However, revision of the genus may reveal the existence of another species in Macroramphosus, in addition to M. scolopax (and the more elongate, narrower form, which some authorities refer to as M. gracilis).
Examples of countries / areas in which fish referred to M. scolopax have been recorded, include the  following (in alphabetical order): American Samoa, Angola, Argentina, Australia, the Azores Archipelago (mid-Atlantic ridge), Brazil, Cape Verde, Canada, Canary Islands, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Guinea Bissau, Greater Antilles, Great Meteor Seamount (eastern central Atlantic), Hawaii, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Korean Republic, Lord Howe Rise, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, north-west Africa, Norway, Norfolk Ridge, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom / Great Britain, and the east coast of the USA (Wheeler, 1978; Masuda et al., 1984; Wass, 1984; Bianchi, 1986; Heemstra, 1986; Maigret and Ly, 1986; May and Maxwell, 1986; Robins and Ray, 1986; Ehrich, 1986, 1990; Bauchot, 1987; Fischer et al., 1987; Paulin et al., 1989; Sanches, 1991; Tsimenides et al., 1991; Cervigón et al., 1992; Wheeler, 1992; Bianchi et al., 1993; Lanfranco, 1993; Shen, 1993; Yamada et al., 1995; Reiner, 1996; Kullander, 1999; Marceta, 1999; Winkler et al., 2000, all cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007; Maul, 1976; Ehrich et al., 1987; Uiblein et al., 1999; Kuranaga and Sasaki, 2000; Kallianiotis et al., 2000; Rodriguez et al., 2000; Guénette and Morato, T., 2001; Stanford et al., 2001; Bishop Museum, 2002; Briggs and Waldman, 2002; Fonseca et al., 2002; Vakily et al. 2002; Moore et al., 2003; Clark et al., 2004; Coad, 2006; Bilecenoglu, 2006).
In New Zealand, M. scolopax is distributed from the Kermadec Ridge to the southern Snares Shelf (Stewart and Roberts, 2004). Between eastern Australia and New Zealand, C. humerosus has also been recorded from the vicinity of the Norfolk Ridge and Lord Howe Rise (Clarke et al., 2004).

Australia

In Australia, this species is recorded from southern Queensland, south to Victoria and Tasmania, and west into the Great Australian Bight in S.A. and W.A. (May and Maxwell, 1986; Paxton et al., 1989; Australian Museum, 2004u; CSIRO Marine Research records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007). Off eastern Australia, the species has also been recorded in the vicinity of the Norfolk Ridge and the Lord Howe Rise (Clark et al., 2004).

South Australia

Examples in S.A. where M. scolopax has been recorded include numerous locations in the western, central and eastern Great Australian Bight, south of the head of the Bight, and west of Streaky Bay and Ceduna ( Museum of Victoria records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007; CSIRO Marine Research records, 1960s – 1970s, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).

Habitat

Generally, Common Snipefish is benthic or bentho-pelagic. The species is commonly found in schools between mid-water and the seabed, over mud or sand bottoms in deep water (Fritzsche and Thiesfeld, 1999). Due to its presence in the water column, some authors describe it as being  “epipelagic” (Morato and Pitcher, 2002; Vasconcellos and Watson, 2004). In the central Mediterranean, examples of habitats in which M. scolopax has been recorded in high numbers include muddy / detritus bottoms on the shelf edge (120 – 170m) / upper slope, often associated with a high densities of the crinoid Leptometra phalangium (Colloca et al., 2003, 2004).
Common Snipefish are found on the lower continental shelf and upper slope. Globally the species has commonly been recorded over sea mounts (e.g. Maul, 1976; Uiblein et al., 1999; Fock et al., 2002; Clark et al., 2004). Adults normally live close to the bottom, between ~50m and ~360m depth (Figueiredo et al., 2002), but the full depth range is reported to be about 25m to 600m (Ehrich 1990, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
In Australia, the species is known mainly from the depth range 46m to 366m (CSIRO et al., 2001). In the mid-North Atlantic, the species is commonly found between 50m and 150m deep (Whitehead et al., 1986, cited by Monteiro et al., 1996). In New Zealand, the species is found between 30m and 600 metres depth (Stewart and Roberts, 2004).
Juveniles are epipelagic, found in oceanic surface waters (Schneider, 1990; Fritzsche and Thiesfeld, 1999). An indication that early life stages are spent swimming in open ocean, is the fact that juveniles have been found in large numbers in stomachs of true pelagic fishes such as tuna (Norman, 2003). In the North Atlantic (including Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea), juvenile M. scolopax have been observed and collected in association with pelagic Sargassum plants (South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 2002).
 Juveniles are occasionally washed up with other species in flotsam, after periods of strong winds / storms (e.g. specimen collected by S. Fenton, Lord Howe Island, October, 2000, cited by Australian Museum, 2004u).

Notes on the Biology

Age and Growth

In Australia the Common Snipefish is reported to grow to 18cm in length (Australian Museum, 2004u). In New Zealand, the species grows to about 20cm (Stewart and Roberts, 2004), and in the northern hemisphere, a female specimen of 22.8cm TL was recorded from the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal (Borges, 2001). Females may grow larger than males (Lopes et al., 2006a).
The maximum length of nearly 23cm corresponds to an age of about 6 years (Borges, 2001).
The maximum weight recorded is 67g (Borges, 2001).

Behaviour

Snipefish are gregarious, and can form large schools of several hundred individuals (Stewart and Roberts, 2004).

Reproduction

The eggs and larvae are pelagic (Stewart and Roberts, 2004).

Diet and Feeding Behaviour

Generally, juveniles in shallow or near surface waters feed mainly on pelagic invertebrates / zooplankton such as copepods, and adults feed on bottom invertebrates, mainly crustaceans (Ehrich, 1986; Masuda and Allen, 1993, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007; Fritzsche and Thiesfeld, 1999).
Adults appear to feed near the seafloor, using their long snouts to probe for and “vacuum up” small crustaceans and other invertebrates (Norman, 2003).
Previously, a study in the Mediterranean coast showed that the diet of large (> 128mm) M. scolopax consists mainly of crustaceans, with preferred prey being hermit crabs (Paguridae) (Matallanas, 1982). Smaller snipefish ate amphipods, and polychaete worms were also a significant part of the diet (Matallanas, 1982). The 1982 study showed that M. scolopax fed almost exclusively on benthic prey, with pelagic prey being less than 10% of the diet). More recently, a study in the same area showed that mysid shrimps were the most important food item in the diet of M. scolopax (Lopes et al., 2006b). Another study (Fock et al., 2002) reported more cosmopolitan feeding habits of M. scolopax, with major dietary items including pelagic foraminifera, calanoid copepods, polychaete worms, decapod crustaceans (i.e. crabs) and their larvae, ostracods, pelagic gastropods, mysids, and echinoderm appendages (pedicellariae).
Feeding habits of M. scolopax differ between regions (Matallanas, 1982).
Given the abundance of M. scolopax and its feeding habits, the species may have a significant impact on zooplankton communities, thus assuming a pivotal position in marine food webs (Lopes et al., 2006b).

Predators

Juveniles have occasionally been recovered in large numbers from the stomachs of tunas (Stewart and Roberts, 2004). In south-eastern Australia, the species has been recorded as a very minor part of the diet of small inshore and larger offshore Southern Bluefin Tuna Thunnus maccoyii (Young et al., 1997).
Common Snipefish are also eaten by mackerel and merluccid hakes (Cabral and Murta, 2002), phycid hakes (Morato et al., 1999), John Dory (e.g. Zeus faber) (Silva, 1999), Conger Eels (e.g. Conger conger) (Morato et al., 1999), skates (Raja spp.), sharks, including catsharks (Galeus spp.) (Horie and Tanaka, 2000) and School Shark Galeorhinus galeus (Morato et al., 2003) and dolphins (Reid et al., 2003, cited by Booij, 2004).
In the Azores (north-eastern Atlantic), M. scolopax has been recorded as a major food source offered by adult Roseate Terns Sterna dougallii to their chicks (Ramos et al., 1998). In that area, it has also been recorded as a major food source of Common Tern Sterna hirundo (Granadeiro et al., 2002), and M. scolopax is also part of the other tern species, and other sea birds.

Fisheries Information

Because the species forms large schools, it can be caught in “huge numbers” (Norman, 2003). In the central western Pacific part of the range, M. scolopax is caught in abundance by bottom trawl, although it is not a commercially important species, and is not considered as a food fish (Fritzsche and Thiesfeld, 1999). The species is also a significant part of the bycatch of bottom-trawls in other parts of the range (e.g. Fonseca et al., 2005, on bycatch off Portugal, and Ungaro et al., 2002, on Norway lobster bycatch off Spain), particularly the Atlantic.
Common Snipefish is listed (as “Common Bellowfish” M. scolopax) as one of the bycatch species in the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) (AFMA, 2002a).
Data show that the species is taken in higher numbers in south-eastern Australia, compared with the Great Australian Bight. Bycatch sampling during an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) in 2001, showed that 977kg of M. scolopax were caught in the South East Trawl Fishery (SETF), and all were discarded (AFMA, 2002a). Wayte et al. (2004) reported that in the otter trawl sub-fishery of the SETF, the ISMP recorded about 3 tonne of M. scolopax discarded in 574 trawl shots, which is equivalent to about 5kg per trawl shot. The species has also been recorded as a minor part of the bycatch in the Danish seine sub-fishery of the SETF (e.g. 5kg in 15 shots, during the ISMP survey period) (Wayte et al., 2004).
Bycatch sampling in the GAB Trawl Fishery (during 2000 and 2001) showed that M. scolopax was caught in 24 of the 209 trawl shots over that period; none was retained, and the average quantity discarded was 1.1kg per trawl shot (Brown and Knuckey, 2002). Similarly, AFMA (2002a) reported that bycatch sampling during an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) in 2001, showed that about 22kg of C. humerosus were caught in the GAB Trawl Fishery, and all were discarded (AFMA, 2002a).
The species is part of the bycatch in the Ocean Prawn Trawl and Ocean Fish Trawl fisheries in New South Wales (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004). In the Ocean Fish Trawl (shelf sector), fishery independent surveys showed that the frequency of occurrence of M. scolopax across all trawls was approximately 84%, and 41% in Wreck Bay and Tathra inshore grounds of the Ocean Fish Trawl fishery. In the Ocean Prawn Trawl fishery, frequency of occurrence of M. scolopax was 11% in both the shelf sector and deepwater sector (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
The species is used in public and private aquaria, particularly in Europe and the UK.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species and Threatening Processes

Fishing may be the main threatening process. The species is reported to suffer trawl trauma when caught in trawl bycatch (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004), and in New South Wales, M. scolopax is classified as a species of “high fisheries impact potential”, with low to moderate resilience, but overall at “intermediate to high risk” of population impacts from trawl fishing (N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
In 2006, an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) for species in the Great Australian Bight Trawl Fishery (Daley et al., 2006), provisionally ranked M. scolopax as a “medium risk” species, in terms of population impacts from capture in the GAB trawl fishery. Similarly, in a draft ecological risk assessment for the South East Trawl Fishery, M. scolopax was listed as being at “medium risk” of population impacts from bycatch in that fishery (Wayte et al., 2004).

Other Information

Given the abundance and trophic level of snipefishes and bellowsfishes (i.e. they consume numerous types of invertebrates, as well as small fishes, and are in turn consumed by higher order predatory fishes, sharks, dolphins, sea birds and other fauna), these fishes likely play an important ecological role in food webs in continental shelf and slope waters wherever they are found, including southern Australia.
Monteiro et al. (1996) studied mercury concentrations in meso-pelagic fish in the sub-tropical mid-North Atlantic, and concluded that the relatively high levels of mercury in M. scolopax (57ppb dry weight) and other small fish, could bio-accumulate up the food chain, when these species are eaten by predatory fish.