Aims & Significance As a collaborative effort between agencies with different interests, the overarching aim of this survey was to efficiently collect and process samples for both biodiversity and biodiscovery purposes. This study focuses on sessile invertebrates such as sponges and octocorals due to their ecological importance as habitat providers and their chemical importance as sources of marine natural products and medicines. Specific tasks of the survey were: To broadly characterise the seafloor and inform sled deployment using a remotely operated underwater video camera (ROV); To collect epibenthic fauna using a benthic sled; To sort, photograph, document and prepare taxonomic vouchers of the samples collected with the benthic sled; To deposit taxonomic vouchers of all samples at appropriate museums for curation, registration and distribution to the appropriate taxonomic experts; To prepare and freeze suitable samples for screening of bioactive compounds for the Australian Bioresources Library for biodiscovery research and for export to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) laboratories (> 250 g sample weight) for screening of anti-cancer compounds; To correlate biodiversity measure obtained from the survey with available physical datasets from GA (e.g. geomorphology, sediment grain-size). Data from this study will be valuable to the NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub and SEWPaC for several reasons: Biological data will be combined with that from previous surveys to the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and Oceanic Shoals CMR (GA-322, GA-325, GA-339) to provide a regional assessment and comparison of biodiversity, particularly among geomorphic features such as banks and deep valleys/holes. The collection of images from key geomorphic features will support the analysis of transitions in physical and biological factors which will help researchers investigate possible causes of major biodiversity patterns such as the occurrence of sponge gardens or Halimeda. The collection of baseline data from these currently unknown biological communities will fill a knowledge gap in this part of northern Australia, as well as provide valuable information for future monitoring of the Wessel Commonwealth Marine Reserve and contribution to the Marine Bioregional Plan of the Northern Marine Region. In addition, material collected for biodiscovery will expand Australia’s bioresource library and facilitate future projects on marine chemistry and bioprospecting research. Material sent to the NCI will also contribute to pharmaceutical and medical research on a range of diseases.
Aims & Significance As a collaborative effort between agencies with different interests, the overarching aim of this survey was to efficiently collect and process samples for both biodiversity and biodiscovery purposes. This study focuses on sessile invertebrates such as sponges and octocorals due to their ecological importance as habitat providers and their chemical importance as sources of marine natural products and medicines. Specific tasks of the survey were: To broadly characterise the seafloor and inform sled deployment using a remotely operated underwater video camera (ROV); To collect epibenthic fauna using a benthic sled; To sort, photograph, document and prepare taxonomic vouchers of the samples collected with the benthic sled; To deposit taxonomic vouchers of all samples at appropriate museums for curation, registration and distribution to the appropriate taxonomic experts; To prepare and freeze suitable samples for screening of bioactive compounds for the Australian Bioresources Library for biodiscovery research and for export to the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) laboratories (> 250 g sample weight) for screening of anti-cancer compounds; To correlate biodiversity measure obtained from the survey with available physical datasets from GA (e.g. geomorphology, sediment grain-size). Data from this study will be valuable to the NERP Marine Biodiversity Hub and SEWPaC for several reasons: Biological data will be combined with that from previous surveys to the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and Oceanic Shoals CMR (GA-322, GA-325, GA-339) to provide a regional assessment and comparison of biodiversity, particularly among geomorphic features such as banks and deep valleys/holes. The collection of images from key geomorphic features will support the analysis of transitions in physical and biological factors which will help researchers investigate possible causes of major biodiversity patterns such as the occurrence of sponge gardens or Halimeda. The collection of baseline data from these currently unknown biological communities will fill a knowledge gap in this part of northern Australia, as well as provide valuable information for future monitoring of the Wessel Commonwealth Marine Reserve and contribution to the Marine Bioregional Plan of the Northern Marine Region. In addition, material collected for biodiscovery will expand Australia’s bioresource library and facilitate future projects on marine chemistry and bioprospecting research. Material sent to the NCI will also contribute to pharmaceutical and medical research on a range of diseases.
Rec2013_007.docx