© 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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Starry Toadfish / Starry Toado

Family Name:	Tetraodontidae
Scientific Name:	Arothron firmamentum (Temminck and Schlegel, 1850)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient, likely to be Least Concern
Rationale:  Starry Toadfish is included here because (i) within the Australian part of the range, the species has a south-eastern distribution, and is rarely recorded in S.A.; (ii) pufferfishes lay demersal eggs, and this benthic, site-specific mode of reproduction may increase the vulnerability of populations to localised impacts; (iii) A. firmamentum is taken as bycatch in a number of fisheries across the range; the species reportedly suffers barotrauma when taken as bycatch in trawls, and has been classified as having a high fishery impact profile in trawl fisheries (in N.S.W.); and (iv) there is very little information about the full distribution, relative abundance, biology and population dynamics of this species in southern Australian waters. Despite these vulnerable characteristics, the species is likely to be of Least Concern in S.A., because it has a wide geographic distribution and broad depth range; is rarely recorded in S.A., and does not appear to be a significant part of the bycatch in any South Australian fishery.

Page Contents

Current Conservation Status

No listings known

Distribution

Global

The Starry Toadfish is found in south-eastern Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Taiwan Strait, southern Japan, Ogasawara Is., and the south coast of South Africa (Masuda et al., 1984; Paulin et al., 1989; Masuda and Allen, 1993; Heemstra, 1995; Matsuura and Tyler, 1997; Randall et al., 1997; Huang, 2001, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
A. firmamentum has recently been reported from Argentina, the first record for the south-west Atlantic (Diaz de Astarloa et al., 2003).

Australia

In Australia, the Starry Toadfish ranges from southern Queensland through to South Australia, including Tasmania (May and Blaber, 1989; Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).
Most museum records of this species are from south-eastern Australia (Australian Museum records, Museum of Victoria records, SA Museum record, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).
The species is considered common in the South-East Australian marine region, a broad area encompassing waters from the westernmost point of Kangaroo Island (~136.5°E), eastward to include waters off Tasmania and Victoria, through to Tuross Heads (36°S) off New South Wales (Marine Research, Museum Victoria, Australian Museum, and New South Wales Fisheries, 2001).

South Australia

Starry Toadfish has been recorded in S.A waters only on “rare occasions” (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994). There is a record from 1974, of a specimen collected at Proper Bay in the Port Lincoln area, which was the first report of the species in S.A. waters (South Australian Museum record FO4074, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).
There is only one registered record of A. firmamentum in the South Australian Museum (R. Foster, S.A. Museum, pers. comm., 2006).

Habitat

The Starry Toadfish occurs in both continental shelf and continental slope waters (May and Maxwell, 1986). The upper depth limit of the species is reported to be the shallow subtidal (e.g. as shallow as 0m – 10m), and it is noted that a record from S.A. was taken at 2.5m depth. There are various published estimates of the maximum depth, including 180m (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994), 360m (May and Maxwell, 1986, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), and 660m (CSIRO et al., 2001).
The species is found in the vicinity of inshore and offshore reefs. In shallower parts of the depth range, divers have recorded adults in mixed sand / patch reef habitats, and near various forms of reef, including “bommies”.
Starry Toadfish have also been recorded in estuaries (e.g. in N.S.W. – see West and Jones, 2001).
A study in Japan showed that the juveniles of A. firmamentum gather in surface waters offshore, amongst drift macroalgae (Nakata et al., 1988).

Notes on the Biology

The species is likely to grow to between 38cm (Hutchins and Swainston, 1986) and 43cm (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).
Starry Toadfish grows to a weight of (at least) 0.63kg, which is the maximum size of a specimen recorded by the New South Wales Fishing Clubs Association (2003), and that size is also a national record (Australian Anglers Association, 2003).
Demersal eggs are laid in a nest and presumably defended (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).

Fisheries and Trade Information

Global

In recent years, large numbers of Starry Toadfish have been taken as bycatch in the purse seine fishery for Skipjack Tuna off New Zealand (Hardy, in Gomon et al., 1994).
A study of the bycatch taken by United States and New Zealand tuna purse seine vessels in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone during 1976-1982, showed that A. firmamentum was recorded in 35 sets (4% occurrence over all sets sampled), with an average abundance of 17 fish per set (Bailey et al., 1996).
 In South Africa, the species is common in trawls from 50m off Tsitsikamma (Heemstra, 1995, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007).
The species is called the “Mainstay Puffer” or “Starry Toado” in the aquarium industry, and is promoted as an aquarium fish that is difficult to keep, and has special requirements regarding food and space.

Southern Australia

Starry Toadfish is caught as bycatch in trawlers operating in south-eastern Australia (May and Maxwell, 1986). In the otter trawl sub-fishery of the SETF, an Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) reported that in 76 trawl shots, about 754 kg of Starry Toadfish were discarded (Wayte et al., 2004), an average of about 10kg per trawl shot. In the Danish seine sub-fishery, the catch is much smaller (i.e. 23kg of Starry Toadfish were recorded in 9 shots) (Wayte et al., 2004).
The species is reported to be a very minor component of the bycatch in the Commonwealth-managed Small Pelagic Fishery (AFMA, 2004c).
In New South Wales, A. firmamentum is one of the bycatch species in the ocean fish trawl sector of the Ocean Trawl Fishery. It is also caught, in far lesser quantities, in the ocean prawn trawl shelf sector of that fishery. Surveys have shown that the species occurred in about 18% of surveyed fish trawl shots in the Wreck Bay and Tathra inshore grounds, and in terms of frequency of occurrence, the Starry Toadfish was ranked 30^th of the top 50 species taken as bycatch in that sector of the fishery (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004).
Although the Starry Toadfish is not usually targeted by recreational fishers, there are records of the species having been taken by anglers (e.g. New South Wales Fishing Clubs Association, 2003). Species-specific recreational fishing data are not available; however the section above on Tetraodontidae provides an example of recreational fishing statistics for pufferfish and toadfish as a group.

Vulnerable Characteristics of the Species

The species has a limited known presence within South Australia.
Pufferfishes lay demersal eggs in a nest (Nelson, 1994, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007), a population characteristic that increases their vulnerability, compared with fish that do not have such strong site association and site-specific, benthic reproduction.

Threatening Processes

Threatening processes in South Australia are not known for this report.
In other parts of the geographic range, the extent to which trawl capture threatens populations is not well known; however, a number of studies have highlighted the risk that trawling poses to this species. A study of the susceptibility of trawl-caught fishes to population impacts (Stobutski et al., 2001) ranked fish bycatch species according to two overriding characteristics (based upon biological and ecological criteria): (i) the susceptibility to capture and mortality due to prawn trawling, and (ii) the population's capacity to recover after depletion. The rank of each species on these two characteristics determined its relative capacity to sustain trawling, and therefore its priority for research and management. Species that were the least likely to be sustainable included those in the Tetraodontidae. These species are highly susceptible to capture by trawls, they are benthic or demersal, their primary habitat is soft sediments, and their diet may include prawns or species that occur in prawn grounds. The recovery capacity of species in Tetraodontidae is also considered to be low, with the estimated removal rate by trawling (Stobutski et al., 2001).
A. firmamentum was listed as one of the bycatch species in the N.S.W. Ocean Trawl Fishery that has a “high” fishery impact profile (New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 2004). The species is reported to suffer barotrauma when hauled in trawls. Although A. firmamentum is considered to be of “moderate resilience” to impacts due to its broad depth range, it was classified overall as a “high risk” species in terms of population impacts from trawl fishing (see N.S.W. Department of Primary Industries, 2004). In contrast to the N.S.W. study, a draft ecological risk assessment report for the South East Trawl Fishery, listed A. firmamentum as being a “medium risk” species, in terms of population impacts from trawling (Wayte et al. 2004).

Research Requirements

More information is required on the distribution and relative abundance of this species at the edge of the Australian part of the range (which is South Australia).
There is very little information on the biology, habitat requirements and population dynamics of this species.

Management Requirements

Generally, bycatch of pufferfish species in trawl and other net fisheries across Australia should be recorded at species level, over space and time, and methods to reduce bycatch should be adopted.

Other Information

The Starry Toadfish belongs to a genus of tropical and subtropical toadfishes, and A. firmamentum is the only member of the genus that occurs in southern Australian waters.
Divers have observed A. firmamentum being tended by Blue-Streak Cleaner Wrasse at “cleaning stations” on reefs in southern Queensland.
The species is poisonous to eat, due to the presence of tetrodotoxin (a neurotoxin).