Unique marine life contributed significantly towards the Island being listed as World Heritage. Here tropical and temporal marine species cohabit, where many are at their ecological limits and where endemism is high. These waters are pristine, relatively untouched with a long standing prohibition of nets, spear guns and other commercial forms of fishing.
The coral from Australia's most southerly fringing reef allows for a development of complex marine communities as it provides an abundance of both food and shelter (there are over 90 types). 490 species of fish, thirteen being endemic only to Lord Howe, Norfolk and Middleton Reef region, and many hundreds of invertebrates (urchins, starfish, crabs, snails, slugs and worms) have been recorded, a process carried out by two surveys.
In 1973 scientists working from the survey vessel El Torito carried out a marine survey, sponsored by a grant from the National Geographic Society. This month long research produced the results of 447 fish from 107 families in the surrounding waters. Neville Coleman's underwater photography in 1979 and 1980 added another 43 species to the list.
Most of the fish at Lord Howe are widely distributed in the Indian and West Pacific Ocean areas as well as the adjacent waters in eastern Australia. With approximately 75 per cent of tropical inshore species, and 15 per cent being temperate, the fish fauna is an amalgamation of tropical and temperate Australia. However this composition differs from one period to another as the periodic influx of cooler southern currents causes fluctuation in the water temperature; temperatures in the lower degrees limit the number of tropical species.
Fish common to the inshore Island waters:
• Amphiprion maccullochi -McCullochs anemonefish, Anampses elegans - Elegant wrasse, Apogon norfolcensis - Norfolk cardinal fish, Goniistius ephippium - Painted morwong, Paraglyphidodon polycanthus - Spiny demoiselle, Parma polyepis - Sailorfish, Pseudolabrus luculentus - Parrotfish wrasse, Trachypoma macracanth - Pacific perch, Pterois volitans - Butterfly cod, Coris bulbifrons - The Double header, Thalassoma lunare - Moon wrasse, Chaetedon sp. - Butterfly fish, Lethrinus nebulosus - Spangled emperor, Coris picta - Comb wrasse, Thalassoma purpureum - Green blocked wrasse, Kyphosus sydneyanus - Silver drummer
Offshore Island Waters:
• Seriola lalandii - Kingfish (local schools rather than migrants from Australia or NZ), Girellacyanea - Bluefish (main angling fish caught on Island waters but occasionally Trevally, Garfish, Salmon and Pearl Perch are taken.)
• Game fish - Marlin, Wahoo, Tuna and "Greenbacks" (giant Kingfish).
The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced that it is launching a full status review to determine whether 82 corals, threatened with extinction by global warming and ocean acidification, warrant the protections of the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes in response to a scientific petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity seeking protection for the corals, followed by a notice of intent to sue for failing to respond to the petition.
“The status review is an important step forward in protecting coral reefs, which scientists have warned may be the first worldwide ecosystem to collapse due to global warming,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Endangered Species Act protection can provide a safety net for corals on the brink of extinction.”
As a result of today’s decision, the 82 corals will be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act; the government will decide whether endangered or threatened status is warranted for the corals by the end of the year. The new finding concluded that the corals, all of which occur in U.S. waters ranging from Florida and Hawaii to U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, faced with population declines of 30 percent or greater combined with large scale threats such as climate change and ocean acidification could cause coral populations to collapse and make it difficult for them to recover
“Coral reefs are the world’s most endangered ecosystems and provide an early warning of impacts to come from our thirst for fossil fuels,” said Sakashita. “Within a few decades, global warming and ocean acidification threaten to completely unravel magnificent coral reefs that took millions of years to build.”
When corals are stressed by extreme ocean temperatures, they are vulnerable to bleaching and death. Mass bleaching events have become much more frequent and severe as ocean temperatures have risen in recent decades, and scientists predict that most of the world’s corals will be subjected to mass bleaching events at deadly frequencies within 20 years on our current emissions path. Further, ocean acidification, caused by the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide, impairs the ability of corals to grow and build their protective skeletons. Therefore, global warming and ocean acidification are an overriding threat to coral reefs that have already experienced population declines from threats such as destructive fishing, agriculture runoff, pollution, abrasion, predation, and disease.
Protection under the Endangered Species Act would open the door to greater opportunities for coral reef conservation, as activities ranging from fishing, dumping, dredging, and offshore oil development, all of which hurt corals, would be subject to stricter regulatory scrutiny. The Endangered Species Act would also require federal agencies to ensure that that their actions do not harm corals, which could result in agencies approving projects with significant greenhouse gas emissions to consider and minimize such impacts on vulnerable coral species.The National Marine Fisheries Service is soliciting comments on the corals for 60 days.
