South Australian Museum - North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000

Flinders Ranges Purple Spotted Gudgeon - Mogurnda clivicola. Image: Michael Hammer The Paradoxical seahorse, Hippocampus paradoxus. Image: Magnolia Press CT scan of Hippocampus paradoxus. Image: P Blias

This is being conducted by researchers from the museum's Evolutionary Biology Unit (EBU) and from other Australian and overseas institutions. To facilitate this research, tissue samples for genetic analysis are routinely collected from newly acquired specimens and deposited in the Australian Biological Tissue Collection (ABTC) held at the South Australian Museum.

Museum Associate Researcher, Dr Michael Hammer, has conducted an exhaustive review of freshwater fish specimens to link with various projects, such as the state's Vertebrate List and the State Action Plan for Freshwater Fishes. This involved examination of specimens and accompanying data to verify identifications and provide accurate documentation and databases for faunal mapping and referencing. This research has significant implications for the environmental management of several threatened species and has also led to the identification of new freshwater species for the state. Details of some of the research are published in Hammer & Walker, 2004.

This research has significant implications for the environmental management of several threatened species and has also led to the identification of two new species for the state. Details of the research are published in MP Hammer & KF Walker, 2004, A catalogue of South Australian freshwater fishes, including new records, range extensions and translocations. (Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, Vol. 128; pp. 85-97)

Recent research by the museum’s Evolutionary Biology Unit (EBU), in collaboration with the Ichthyology Section and others has revealed several new species in a number of fish groups under investigation. What were considered to be single widespread species have been shown by genetic analysis to actually be two or more distinct species. Some of these so called cryptic species are currently being described and work continues on other groups. To facilitate this research, biological tissue samples for genetic analysis are routinely collected from newly acquired specimens and deposited in the Australian Biological Tissue Collection (ABTC) held at the South Australian Museum.

New species continue to be identified in the collection by traditional taxonomic methods based on morphology. Examination of the seahorses and pipefishes held in the collection has recently resulted in the description and naming of a new pipefish from the South Australian gulfs (Browne & Smith, 2007) and a strange new seahorse from the Great Australian Bight (Foster & Gomon, 2010). Description of this small soft-bodied seahorse was greatly assisted by X-ray microtomography (CT scan) images produced by Peter Blias, of the South Australian Museum, which clearly revealed its delicate skeletal structure.

For more information, see Hippocampus paradoxus

References

Browne, RK & Smith, K, 2007, A new pipefish, Stigmatopora narinosa (Syngnathidae) from South Australia. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 64: 1-6.

Foster, R & Gomon, MF, 2010, A new seahorse (Teleotei: Syngnathidae: Hippocampus) from south-western Australia. Zootaxa 2613: 61-68.

Hammer, MP & Walker, KF, 2004, A catalogue of South Australian freshwater fishes, including new records, range extensions and translocations. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 128: 85-97