© 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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Tucker’s Pipefish

Family Name:	Syngnathidae
Scientific Name:	Mitotichthys tuckeri (Scott, 1942)
Recommended Status in S.A:	Data Deficient
Rationale:  Tucker’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) this south-eastern species may have a limited geographic distribution in S.A., and is known from very few records in this State; (iii) the species in known to date from a narrow depth range, based on few specimens; (iv) habitat impacts on nearshore reefs (including dredging, effluent discharge and sedimentation and any other processes that cause a decline in cover of kelp and other canopy-forming macroalgae) could adversely affect populations of Tucker’s Pipefish, but there is no species-specific information; (v) little is known of the full distribution and depth range, critical habitats, population sizes, basic biology, ecology, and population responses to habitat degradation; (v) the species has been included in risk assessments for bycatch of Commonwealth-managed fisheries, but there are no data available on capture of this species; and (vii) there is only one published record of Tucker’s Pipefish in S.A., but its apparent rarity is likely an artefact due to its cryptic nature, also the inaccessibility (and lack of sampling) of habitat in south-eastern S.A., which would account for the paucity of records to date.

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 as marine species under s248 of the EPBC Act 1999.
All syngnathids are listed as Protected Aquatic Biota in Victoria
Protected from capture in N.S.W., from July 1^st, 2004
The Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 prohibits the take of all syngnathids in Tasmania (by non-permit holders, since Sep 1994)
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

Mitotichthys tuckeri is known mainly from south-eastern Australia, and there are verified records reputed to be from New South Wales (collected 1940, and identified by C.E. Dawson, 1977); Tasmania (e.g. Wynyard; Brickfield Beach; Hawley Bch near Port Sorell; Orford); Victoria (e.g. off Lorne) and other parts of south-eastern South Australia (CSIRO Ichthyology record, Australian National Fish Collection, Hobart; Museum of Victoria records, cited in OZCAM database, 2007).
 

South Australia

Only one record from South Australia could be found for this report, that being specimens taken in 1985 from a site south-east of Long Beach (near Robe) and identified by M. Gomon, from Museum of Victoria (NMV Ichthyology record A23196, cited in OZCAM database, 2007). There are no records in the South Australian Museum (R. Foster, South Australian Museum, pers. comm., 2007). 
 

Habitat

The habitat has not been documented in detail, and is likely to have been inadequately sampled to date (M. Gomon, Museum of Victoria, pers. comm., 2006). Based on the few published specimens to date, the species is reported from amongst kelp and other macroalgae, sometimes amongst floating Sargassum plants (Dawson, 1985, cited in Froese and Pauly, 2007; Kuiter, 2003). The reported depth range (to date) is 9m to 18m (Dawson, 1985) or to 20m (Kuiter, 2003), based on few known specimens. 
 

Notes on the Biology

Growth

Males grow to at least 15.9cm SL (Dawson, 1985). Kuiter (2003) reported a maximum size of about 17cm. 
 

Diet

The diet is unknown, but like other members of the family Syngnathidae, this species probably feeds on small crustaceans (Dawson, 1985; Kuiter, 2000).
 

Reproduction

Little is known of the reproduction in this species. The male carries the eggs in a brood pouch which is found under the tail. Males may be brooding at 12.15 cm SL (Dawson, 1985).
 

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.
The species may have a limited depth range, and specific habitat requirements. Due to the limited number and geographic range of specimens recorded to date, the full distribution and depth range are not known. In particular, the distribution of this species in S.A. is poorly known, and based on a single verified specimen.
Habitat impacts on nearshore reefs (including dredging, effluent discharge and sedimentation, and any other processes that cause the decline in cover of kelp and other canopy-forming macroalgae) could adversely affect populations of Tucker’s Pipefish, but there is no species-specific information.
In a draft ecological risk assessment (Webb et al., 2004) for the Gillnet, Hook and Trap Fishery, M. tuckeri was ranked as being at “medium” risk of population impact from the operation of each of the following sectors: the southern shark gillnet sub-fishery, southern shark demersal long-line sub-fishery, scalefish demersal long-line sub-fishery, scalefish automatic long-lining sub-fishery, and scalefish drop-line sub-fishery. Despite these listings, bycatch data are not available for the fishery (e.g. Knuckey et al., 2001; Webb et al., 2004), and, given the currently known habitat and depth range, the frequency of capture is likely to be very low, if at all. In similar risk assessment for species in the South East Trawl and Danish Seine Fishery (SETF) (Wayte et al., 2004), M. tuckeri was listed as being at “medium risk” of population impacts from the operation of the Danish seine sub-fishery of the SETF, and at “low risk” from the operation of the otter trawl sub-fishery (Wayte et al., 2004), although there are no available bycatch data for these fisheries (e.g. Wayte et al., 2004), and the frequency of capture is likely to be very low, if at all.
 

Research Requirements

The distribution and relative abundance of Tucker’s Pipefish  are poorly known, particularly in South Australia. Although there is only one published record of M. tuckeri in S.A., it is likely to have a wider distribution in south-eastern South Australia, the nearshore fish fauna of which is inadequately sampled, due to rough sea conditions, and thus inaccessibility for surveying (particularly diving), during much of the year. The macroalgae-rich reefs of south-east S.A. (and likely also those of western Victoria) have barely been examined for their pipefish fauna, and some areas, particularly the less accessible, have not been surveyed at all. Survey work by R.H. Kuiter (cited by M. Gomon, Museum of Victoria, pers. comm., 2006) has shown that species like Mitotichthys mollinsoni, previously known from a few specimens, are more common than previously thought, and that may also be the case for M. tuckeri.
In addition to distribution and relative abundance, further investigation of the habitat requirements, biology and ecology of this species all need further investigation, which will assist in determining its conservation status.
All specimens caught (either under permit, or in fisheries bycatch) in South Australia, should be provided to the South Australian Museum, with corresponding collecting details.
 

Management Requirements

Generally, ongoing protection from degradation is required for nearshore reef habitats.
If the species is present in the bycatch of coastal fisheries, such information should be recorded over space and time, and methods to reduce the bycatch of syngnathid fishes should be adopted where possible. 
Although the main part of this species range is likely to be in waters shallower than those worked by Commonwealth-managed fisheries, bycatch should be monitored for the presence of Tucker’s Pipefish, in fisheries for which it has been stated as being at “medium risk” of population impacts (e.g. components of the SETF and GHAT – see above).
 

Other Information

The species is related to the south-eastern Australian species M. mollisoni and M. semistriatus (Dawson, in Gomon et al., and Gomon et al., in prep.)