News and Events

Seminar

Mountain Climbing Marine Fishes: Freshwater Fishes Diversity, Abundance and Distribution of the Pacific Island Nation

David Boseto, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Where: ARC Centre of Excellence Conference Room, JCU (DB44)

When: Wednesday, 19th August 2009 2.00pm – 3.00pm

David Boseto is from the Solomon Islands and is currently undertaking Graduate Studies in Masters in Environmental Science at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. David’s current research projects are Freshwater fisheries policy in the Pacific Island Nations and a review of the sicydiinae goby of the genus Stiphodon. Other research interests are on the effect of aquatic invasive species on the native species and the effect of the global climate change on the freshwater fishes of the Pacific island nations.

ABSTRACT:

One of the poorly known aspects of the biodiversity of the Pacific Islands is the biodiversity of freshwater fish.  In insular Pacific islands, freshwater streams and rivers are dominated by seven families of freshwater fishes. These families are: Gobiidae, Eleotridae, Kuhliidae, Syngnathidae, Mugilidae, Anguillidae and Poeciliidae. A number of marine fish families are usually found in estuarine areas including the Carangidae, Chanidae, Muraenidae, Carcharhinidae and Toxotidae. Gobiidae are the most abundant fish in freshwater on insular Pacific islands. They are present in a wide range of aquatic habitats from the ocean into the head waters of rivers. Gobies of the subfamily sicydiinae inhabit high tropical volcanic islands throughout the insular Pacific islands. They are known as the mountain climbing marine fishes. They have cleft in their mouth, their disc –like pelvic fin and pectoral fin that aid them to climb the waterfall wall to reach a pool at a high elevation. Adults’ species lived in freshwater and in some high islands they are the only fish in the rivers. Sicydiinae gobies spawn in the river and the larvae washed down to the sea where they developed into juvenile before returning back to the river to complete their life cycle. Most of the freshwater biota of the Pacific islands represents secondary species derived from marine ancestors