New Species in SE Tas?

[Richard Mason]

This was posted on our local forum here in Tas, Tassie Divers - Home by a lurker on YD (but his name is James and he is our club's pres), I could tell you his handle on here but then I'd have to kill you. It's a pity really, because he's the best u/w photographer I know and I've posted a fair few of his pics on here - it would be nice if he could put some more up, they really are outstanding.


"Dived NE Maria Island and the Troy D with the TSDC yesterday, two boats and 7 divers left from Tribunna and headed across the passage for the NE Bommie under the cliffs of Mt Bishop and Clerk, here we were nicely sheltered from the strong southerly breeze. This dive was fantastic, with walls to 20m and wide sandy gutters plenty of butterfly perch hanging around. Unfortunately vis was down about 10-15m max depth 30m. Had dived this area back in 1999 and in good vis the area was very spectacular. Had lunch in Fossil bay caught up with Mick, (Tassie Devil) MM, (Richard M) and PP (Pink Panther) on the Island Ocean Charters boat.

For a second dive headed for the Troy D the wind had dropped a bit, vis was poor on the D about 10m. Amazing how fast the scallops on the deck have grown since I last dived her last month. Saw a few Tassie Blennys and one of the dive crew saw a nudibranch.

On the NE Bommie dive saw patches of this very striking small purple soft coral, I had not noticed this animal in Tassie waters before, has any one else observed this animal before?? if so where. Picture below."




James later added:

"Hey Guys, looks like the picture above is a new species on our shores, another diver told me they had seen this little soft coral off Schouten. I emailed Karen Gowlett- Holmes Invertebrate Zoololgist at CSIRO and great underwater photographer, her response:

"I have recorded the species from central South Australia (Kangaroo Island to Nuyts Archipelago), but this is the first record outside of SA. It is an undescribed species in the Alcyoniidae – Phil Alderslade thinks it is probably also an undescribed genus – he has been working on it in the past and intends to describe it fairly soon. It is probably much more widespread than we realise but it is definitely not as far south as the Tasman Peninsula. It seems to prefer fairly exposed coasts on walls, often in crevices or at least in shade. It definitely reproduces by cloning – it buds off polyps that detach and form a new colony, which is why when you find it, there is usually a cluster of colonies very close together. However, individual colonies are never more than about a dozen polyps."

looks like another species extending it's range thanks to warming sea temperatures here on the east coast."

Footnote: Karen Gowlett Holmes is also one of the operators of Eaglehawk Dive Centre, down here on the Tasman Peninsula - Triplefin actually met her and Mick Baron, the other operator in the Shetlands, so it's a a small world we live in.

Another Tassiedivers forum member, who dives on the NW coast (a seperate bioregion, more connected with SA, SW Vic and the Great Aus Bight), reported that he'd seen and photographed the same beastie some years ago in their local area.

You have to wonder if it's another sign of global warming; we really have seen a spectacular increase in mainland SE Aus species over the last 20 years - not all of it good either, with the long spined urchin (Centrostephanus rogersii) destroying large areas of reef and coldwater species like Giant Kelp, once widespread when I first came here, now limited to only a couple of southern localities - so if you want to dive in a Kelp Forest, make it snappy - in 20 yrs, we might not be able to help you.