National Demersal Fish Datasets for the regionalisation of the Australian continental slope and outer shelf

Updated: 2008-07-03

Two types of fish distribution data were sought for this study: point data or specimen data, and catch composition data. Data were obtained from oceanographic surveys by State and Australian Government research vessels, plus a few surveys from Australian commercial and foreign vessels. These data were used to construct a biogeographic framework from regionalisations of the continental slope of Australia's marine jurisdiction, based on the distributional patterns of the region's demersal fish fauna. Thousands of specimens were re-identified to secure accurate distribtions. Offshore demseral fishes are defined as those occurring below a depth of 40 metres. Historical data used, which does not adequately cover the entire region.