Microplastic extraction from digestive tracts of large decapods.

The reliable quantification of microplastic contamination in chitinous organisms requires validated methods to remove interfering complex organic and inorganic material. This study trialled KOH, HO and HNO digestion methods on the digestive tracts of two large decapods (Panulirus cygnus and Portunus armatus) to validate a protocol that facilitates reliable microplastic extraction. KOH digestion provided the best recovery (>95 %) of all polymers (e.

SMART Drumlines Ineffective in Catching White Sharks in the High Energy Capes Region of Western Australia: Acoustic Detections Confirm That Sharks Are Not Always Amenable to Capture.

The management of human-shark interactions can benefit from the implementation of effective shark hazard mitigation measures. A Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-Time (SMART) drumline trial in the Capes region of Western Australia was instigated after several serious incidents involving surfers and white sharks (). The project aimed to determine whether white sharks (target species), which were relocated after capture, remained offshore using satellite and acoustic tagging.

Decadal abundance patterns in an isolated urban reptile assemblage: Monitoring under a changing climate.

Determine seasonal, annual, and decadal patterns of abundance in reptile species and assemblages occupying central Bold Park (~338 ha), an isolated urban bushland remnant in Perth, Southwestern Australia. Fenced pitfall trapping in four sampling sites, representing different habitats and fire history, over the primary reptile activity period for 35 consecutive years with over 17,000 individuals captured during 3300 days of sampling; the trapping regime was modified for the last 28 years. Sampling occurred in one of 35 global biodiversity hotspots that has a Mediterranean climate experiencing a 15% decline from the century average rainfall over the last 50 years.

New insights into prime Southern Ocean forage grounds for thriving Western Australian humpback whales.

Humpback whale populations migrate extensively between winter breeding grounds and summer feeding grounds, however known links to remote Antarctic feeding grounds remain limited in many cases. New satellite tracks detail humpback whale migration pathways from Western Australia into the Southern Ocean. These highlight a focal feeding area during austral spring and early summer at the southern Kerguelen plateau, in a western boundary current where a sharp northward turn and retroflection of ocean fronts occurs along the eastern plateau edge.

High levels of polyandry, but limited evidence for multiple paternity, in wild populations of the western rock lobster ().

Polyandry, where multiple mating by females results in the temporal and spatial overlap of ejaculates from two or more males, is taxonomically widespread and occurs in varying frequencies within and among species. In decapods (crabs, lobsters, crayfish, and prawns), rates of polyandry are likely to be variable, but the extent to which patterns of multiple paternity reflect multiple mating, and thus are shaped by postmating processes that bias fertilization toward one or a subset of mated males, is unclear. Here, we use microsatellite markers to examine the frequency of multiple mating (the presence of spermatophores from two or more males) and patterns of paternity in wild populations of western rock lobster ().

Export of detached macroalgae from reefs to adjacent seagrass beds.

Trophic linkages across habitats are thought to be strong when areas of different productivity are juxtaposed. Reefs dominated by macroalgae are commonly juxtaposed to less productive seagrass beds. We tested if macroalgae detached from 12 rocky reefs in south-western Australia were exported to adjacent seagrass beds and consumed by seagrass-associated fauna.