No more Galapusky - Paper!

Or is it, Duskapagos?

Anyway, check this out.

I was sent to me by the Saffron Pimpernel under the heading of mumbo jumbo - and for a genetic ignoramus like me, it sure very much is! 

But having double checked with my trusted geneticist, she confirms that Gavin and Will's putative lumping of the Dusky and the Galapagos is no more, meaning that the two species continue to be valid.

And this mystery Shark?

Likely not a Dusky (see the map at the top) but a Silky like first assumed!

Ain't taxonomy fun - and it's so easy, too!:)

 

Carol - gallivanting around in the SoPac!

Carol with SPOT tag.

Behold Carol the Mako Shark!

Kudos to Clinton Duffy, he of Grim the GW!

He and colleagues have tagged Carol in May and like Grim, she has left New Zealand and gone walkabout all the way to western Fiji.

Story here.

And here is the interactive track on Guy and Mahomood's research website - which of course raises the same fundamental questions about the pros and cons of posting this kind of information online!

Opinions?

Guitarfishes in Fiji!

Fiji Guitarfish - probably undescribed, possibly endemic!

Who would have thought!
Several people have responded to Clinton's appeal and it now appears that Fiji is harboring at least two species of Guitarfish!

So there.
The following with big caveats as the taxonomy of the group is challenging to say the least.

The comparatively easy one first.
Juerg has thankfully kept complete records of a specimen that washed up here in Pac Harbour, and it now looks like it may be the rather ubiquitous Rhynchobatus laevis, or Smoothnose Wedgefish.
Here's one from Cook Island in Queensland - maybe :)



And then, there's Randy's astonishing crop.
The man is active literally everywhere as witnessed by his ridiculously epic, and undoubtedly shortened publication list!
Anyway, Randy has somehow found the spare time to amass an extensive (this being a colossal understatement!) collection of images of Fishes from Fiji's fish markets and fishermen - and lo-and-behold, he has come up with pictures of two specimens caught in Waiqanake right outside of Suva, one of which is the Ray on top.

Clinton's completely unexpected, albeit highly preliminary verdict?
These may well be of a hitherto undescribed, and possibly even endemic species, the good news being that whilst one was duly consumed, the other one is thankfully residing in the USP freezer and thus available for DNA testing!
How totally spectacular is that!

So please, should you have any pics or other reliable records of any Guitarfish in Fiji, let us know - the more we can find out about habitat and distribution the better!

And people say that Taxonomy is boring!

Sawfishes in Fiji? Alas not!

Wanted: ID pics from Fiji!
Guitarfish, Rhynchobatus laevis, (not dijiddensis as in the original caption) possibly the species seen here in Fiji - but maybe not! :)

Nice paper!
Sawfishes are among the most threatened Elasmobranchs and all seven species are listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. They generally inhabit shallow coastal waters of continental shelves and estuarine habitats and are not generally known from oceanic islands.

It was thus quite a coup when one turned up on a Fiji fish list.
Clinton Duffy, yes as in Grim the tourist, has followed up on the Fiji record and after meticulous research all the way to linguistics, he comes to the conclusion that the origin of the specimens is suspect and that there are no credible recent records of Sawfishes having been sighted or caught in the archipelago.
You can read a preview here and get the whole paper here.

Clinton is now looking at Shovelnose Rays, Genus Rhynchobatus.
They are rather frequently sighted in Fiji but nobody seems to have identified the exact species. Does any of our readers have any good ID pictures he would be willing to share with Clinton?
Any help would be much appreciated!

Vinaka!

Great Whites on Sea Mounts!

Click for detail!

A Great White on a coral reef?

Yes that would be a sea mount in New Caledonia!
The pic was taken in September, 2007 by one Luc Bourdil who if I understand it correctly (Note: I did not, see Luc's explanation in the comments section) was leading a group of divers. Everybody made it up safely, then three very much intrepid (and I would add, very much Gallic) plongeurs went back down to further admire the spectacle, very much proving that GWs are not at all what they are made out to be. And, that Gallic plongeurs are certainly very intrepid and possibly also quite stupid.
More pictures here.

I just got sent the pic by Clinton Duffy.
Clinton is the man who tagged Grim the Fiji tourist and he was also kind enough to send me these tracks of Grim's gallivanting about in Bligh Waters. The yellow ellipses denote the scope of possible position errors and no, he definitely did not traipse around on Vanua Levu like Dakuwaqa!


And there's more that Grim did not do.
It appears pretty clear that he did not visit Plantation Island after all, which must be a great relief to the tourism industry there. And having been given the chance to ask some questions, many of which undoubtedly stupid, Clinton informs me that in his opinion, the NZ GWs who migrate north in winter do not seem to be following the Humpback Whales like I assumed. There is of course temporal overlap but the spatial overlap seems to be, if at all, more or less entirely fortuitous.

In Clinton's words.

While whites definitely visit the same areas the humpbacks do the fit between the movements of these species is not particularly tight.
Some whites are definitely on the grounds at the same time the whales are but some arrive after the whales should have gone and stay on. So while I think there is some link there I don't think the whites are dependent on the humpbacks but I have no doubt they would check them out when they're in the neighbourhood.

I'm also pretty sure that whites from NZ visit Fiji every winter-early summer (July-January), I think its just an artefact of small sample size that only one of the sharks we've tagged so far has been tracked there.

Places you're most likely to encounter them would be on seamounts and in the entrances to deep passes. They've been seen by divers in both habitats in Tonga (2 yrs in a row on the same seamount - Happy Ha'apai Divers) and New Caledonia respectively.

Wow wow wow!
As far as I know, no diver has seen a GW in Fiji yet - or am I mistaken?
Anyway, just imagine if one would pop up on the Shark dive amid the gaggle of Bulls - would that be awesome, or what! :)

Vinaka Clinton - all very very interesting!
Much appreciated indeed!

More Grim News!

Pic: Kina Scollay

Remember Grim the Kiwi tourist?

Now, more details are starting to emerge.
New Zealand's 3News have aired a stellar piece on Clinton Duffy's GW research including a first glimpse at the tracks - and I notice that Grim (4:20 ff in blue) has navigated tantalizingly close to the SRMR! Alas, the embedding feature has not been enabled - but you can watch the program online right here.

Very much looking forward to the published results!
Keep watching this space!

Hat tip: Patric!

PS more details here.