Coffs Harbour fish collection (was brackish gobies and gudgeons)

cyrus roussilhes (cyrus at ois.com.au)
Wed, 12 Jun 1996 16:41:30 +0500

The following was originally posted in the Brackish list by Richard
Mleczko, about fish collecting at Coffs Harbour:

>From: Richard Mleczko <rrm at enmech.csiro.au>
>To: "Brackish Aquariums Listserv" <Brackish at fs2.law.missouri.edu>
>Subject: brackish gobies and gudgeons
>Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 14:18:51 +1000
>Reply-to: Brackish at fs2.law.missouri.edu
>Sender: Listmaster at fs2.law.missouri.edu
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
>Hi,
>It was good to hear that some people were successful in catching
>some fish recently.
>
>Let me tell you about my weekend in Coffs Harbour NSW.
>My wife and I arrived there last Wednesday and I had all the
>equipment (A/C air pump, D/C air pump, net and container)
>with me to catch fish.
>
>Coffs Harbour has many tidal creeks and lagoons. The main one, Coffs
>creek is an area of mudflats and mangroves.
>
>On Friday I explored a creek (Pinebrush creek) just north of Coffs
>near our hotel. It was big for a creek, more like a river. Up steam
>the water was fresh, down stream I could taste no salt either, but
>I could see where the tide was washing in marine material (sea weed,
>sponges etc..) so it must be brackish some of the time. It was here
>in the lagoon that I caught some pacific blue eye (Pseudomugil signifer)
>and some mosquito fish (Gambusia spp.) Further up stream but not far away
>I dredged the detritus and caught a small carp gudgeon
>(Hypseleotris klunzingeri).
>
>On Saturday I returned to Pinebrush creek and even further up stream
>I dredged the detritus again and caught my 2nd carp gudgeon and some
>more blue eye.
>
>On Sunday I got up at 6am (we were due to fly out at 1-30pm) and went
>to the mudflat/mangrove area of the Coffs creek, it was just after low
>tide. I carefully took some mangrove seedlings and some seeds pods.
>I then went out onto the mud and started looking under wood and leaves
>and in little pools on the mud. I eventually caught about 6 gobies, 2
>different species. It may be unsightly to see bottles in the water but
>they do make great hiding places for gobies !. I caught 3 gobies
>(within minutes) from the same bottle after I replaced it 3 times when I
>left to put them into my container a little further away !
>
>I also caught many shrimp and a few tiny crabs.
>
>I packed them all up in a carry bag in 3 plastic drink bottles, giving
>them all aeration in turn from the battery operated air pump. I then
>took them on the plane with me back to Canberra. They are now in a
>brackish quarantine tank for a week.
>
>Could anyone please tell me what gobies I might have caught at Coffs.
>Here is a rough description of them :
>
>Goby 'A', light in colour, flat head, flat snout (not rounded or pointed),
> dark band through 1st dorsal, irregular angled bands on face
> and body, small eyes more on the side of the face.
> (It looks a bit like a largemouth goby, Redigobius macrostoma,
> but does not have a large mouth).
>
>Goby 'B', light in colour, flat head, pointed snout, 6 regular dark
> blotches along body, tiny reddish/orangish spots on back,
> dark bands on the face running though the eyes, large eyes
> more on top of the face with dark circle around the eye,
> mostly clear dorsals but faint reddish/orangish bands running
> through the dorsals. Only one goby has a very long spike
> coming out of the first dorsal.
> (It looks a bit like an orangespotted goby, Nesogobius hinsbyi,
> but they are not reported in NSW and are found 5 to 60m ).
>
>I hope that someone may be able to help me.
>Thanks,
>Richard.
>
>
>
>
>******************************************
>*Richard Mleczko *
>*CSIRO Centre for Environmental Mechanics*
>*GPO Box 821 *
>*Canberra, ACT 2601 *
>*Australia *
>*Phone : 61(0)62465583 *
>*Fax : 61(0)62465560 *
>*Email : richard.mleczko at enmech.csiro.au *
>******************************************
>