Michael B Bennett

University of Queensland | UQ · School of Biomedical Sciences

In a parasitological survey of fishes from Moreton Bay (southeastern Queensland, Australia), 169 teleost fishes, representing 54 species from 28 families, were examined for larval cestodes. Of these 54 species, 36 were found to be infected by metacestodes. Metacestodes were characterised by morphological and molecular data (the D1-D3 region of the...

Introduction and Objective: Acute compartment syndrome (ACS) can be life-altering and requires surgical intervention. Unlike other areas, foot fascial compartments are not well characterised. Confirmation of ACS requires direct measurement of sustained intra-compartmental pressure (ICP) rises. Multiple foot compartment models are described, varyin...

Introduction Acute compartment syndrome is a potentially life-changing condition and is treated surgically. Accurate anatomical knowledge is essential for surgical treatment. Foot compartments, unlike those in the leg, are not well characterised. Several foot compartment models with between three and ten compartments have been proposed, based on an...

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first globa...

New species of Hemionchos (Cestoda: Trypanorhyncha) are reported from the spiral valve of the manta ray Mobula alfredi (Krefft) from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, representing the first record of this genus from Australian waters. Four undescribed species were identified from the spiral valve contents of a single ray. A relatively complete de...

Shark bites are of high public concern globally. Information on shark occurrence and behaviour, and of the effects of human behaviours, can help understand the drivers of shark‐human interactions. In Australia, a number of shark bite clusters occurred over the last decade. One of these took place in Cid Harbour the Whitsundays, Queensland, a region...

Over the last century, many shark populations have declined, primarily due to overexploitation in commercial, artisanal and recreational fisheries. In addition, in some locations the use of shark control programs also has had an impact on shark numbers. Still, there is a general perception that populations of large ocean predators cover wide areas...

This study investigated the measurements of energy density and bioenergetic modelling for a pelagic ray, Mobula eregoodoo, to estimate its relative allocation to various bodily processes and especially reproduction. The data revealed M. eregoodoo uses up to 21.0% and 2.5% of its annual energy budget on growth and reproduction, respectively. During...

Background Delimiting cryptic species in elasmobranchs is a major challenge in modern taxonomy due the lack of available phenotypic features. Employing stand-alone genetics in splitting a cryptic species may prove problematic for further studies and for implementing conservation management. In this study, we examined mitochondrial DNA and genome-wi...

Manta rays forage for zooplankton in tropical and subtropical marine environments, which are generally nutrient-poor. Feeding often occurs at predictable locations where these large, mobile cartilaginous fishes congregate to exploit ephemeral productivity hotspots. Investigating the zooplankton dynamics that lead to such feeding aggregations remain...

The brown‐banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, is the most common shark caught in coastal commercial fisheries throughout Southeast Asia, yet there is a lack of the life‐history information necessary for reliable stock assessments. The authors estimated growth rates and age at maturity using analysis of growth bands in vertebral centra. Th...

This study provides the first standardized global microsatellite database for a shark species, the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). Genotyping of reference individuals was used to develop and apply a calibration key for data from eight microsatellite loci data produced by three different laboratories, thereby allowing merging of genotypes into a si...

The brown-banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum is one of the most common shark species caught in coastal fisheries throughout the Indo-Malay region and the most abundant shark caught in trawl fisheries in Malaysia and Thailand. Differences in fisheries regulations related to trawling among jurisdictions, and an absence of either stock asses...

• Mutualism is a form of symbiosis whereby both parties benefit from the relationship. An example is cleaning symbiosis, which has been observed in terrestrial and marine environments. The most recognized form of marine cleaning symbiosis is that of cleaner fishes and their clients. • Cleaner species set up cleaning stations on the reef, and other...

Over the last century, many populations of sharks have been reduced in numbers by overexploitation or attempts to mitigate human-shark interactions. Still, there is a general perception that populations of large ocean predators cover wide areas and therefore their diversity is less susceptible to local anthropogenic disturbance. Here we report retr...

The brown-banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, is one of the most common sharks caught in coastal fisheries across Southeast Asia; however, its small size and low economic value typically exclude it from the attention of fisheries managers. As part of an assessment of a potential role for this shark in improving the sustainability of coast...

Reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) are capable of long-distance dispersal when habitat is continuous. In the Ningaloo Reef World Heritage Area located on Australia’s mid-west coast, M. alfredi is sighted year-round and is a focal species for ecotourism in the region. Despite value to local tourism and demographic vulnerability to exploitation, basic...

Most mobulids are listed as near threatened to endangered. Nonetheless, effective conservation measures are hindered by knowledge gaps in their ecology and behaviour. In particular, few studies have assessed diets and trophic ecologies that could inform methods to avoid fishing mortality. Here, a shortfall in data for the longhorned pygmy devil ray...

The known distribution of manta rays in Australian waters is patchy, with records primarily centred around tourism hotspots. We collated 11,614 records of Mobula alfredi from photo‐ID databases (n = 10,715), aerial surveys (n = 378) and online reports (n = 521). The study confirms an uninterrupted coastal distribution from north of 26°S and 31°S on...

INTRODUCTION: Extensor hallucis brevis (EHB) and extensor digitorum brevis (EDB) lie deep to extensor hallucis longus (EHL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) tendons. EHB inserts proximally in the first proximal phalanx deep to the EHL tendon, while EDB inserts laterally into the EHL tendons, although variability is described. EHB and EHL both ex...

The longhorned pygmy devil ray Mobula eregoodoo (Cantor, 1849), formerly known as Mobula eregoodootenkee (Bleeker, 1859), is a small mobulid with a disc reaching a maximum width of 1.3 m, widely ranging in tropical and subtropical latitudes across the Indian Ocean, the Indo‐Pacific region, and the western Pacific Ocean. A recently emerged opportuni...

We present three case studies about how citizen scientists contribute to research in the Moreton Bay Marine Park: ‘Project Manta’, ‘Grey Nurse Shark Watch’ and ‘Dolphin Watchers’. We identify several challenges with marine megafauna citizen science programs and make recommendations to address these challenges and propose future directions to improv...

The reef manta ray, Mobula alfredi, occurs in tropical and warm temperate coastal waters, and around islands and reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Published records that relate to the distribution of M. alfredi in the south-east Indian and south-west Pacific Oceans are largely restricted to locations where there is a focus on manta ray ecotou...

Research into the movement ecology of terrestrial and marine animals is growing globally, especially for threatened species. Understanding how far an animal can move and the extent of its range can inform conservation planning and management. On the east coast of Australia, reef manta rays Mobula alfredi are the subject of a photographic identifica...

Shark and ray megafauna have crucial roles as top predators in many marine ecosystems, but are currently among the most threatened vertebrates and, based on historical extinctions, may be highly susceptible to future environmental perturbations. However, our understanding of their energetics lags behind that of other taxa. Such knowledge is require...

Few data are available describing reproduction in the pygmy devilray, Mobula kuhlii cf. eregoodootenkee, or mobulids in general. Using samples collected from bather-protection gillnets deployed off eastern Australia during 2017–18 we provide further comment on their periodicity, gestation and size at parturition. Twelve adult specimens were necrops...

Objective Limited sample sizes are often a problem for species of conservation concern when using genetic tools to make population assessments. Lack of analytical power from small sample sizes can be compensated for by use of a large marker set. Here we report on development and characterization of 17 novel microsatellite markers for the reef manta...

We compared the electrosensory system of two benthic elasmobranchs Hemiscyllium ocellatum and Chiloscyllium punctatum. The distribution of the ampullary pores on the head was similar for both species, with a higher density of pores anteriorly and a lower density posteriorly, although C. punctatum generally possessed larger pores. Ampullary canals o...

Parasitological examination of elasmobranchs of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, resulted in the discovery of cestodes belonging to several armed genera of the Tetraphyllidea and Onchoproteocephalidea. Two new tetraphyllideans, Yorkeria moretonensis n. sp. and Yorkeria williamsi n. sp., are described from Chiloscyllium cf. punctatum (Hemiscyllii...

Manta and devil rays are filter-feeding elasmobranchs that are found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical waters. Although relatively understudied for most of the Twentieth century, public awareness and scientific research on these species has increased dramatically in recent years. Much of this attention has been in response to targeted fish...

Understanding variations in habitat use through time contributes to identification of habitats critical for species survival. Here we used passive acoustic telemetry to examine the residency and site fidelity patterns of the reef manta ray Mobula alfredi at Lady Elliot Island (LEI), a key aggregation site in eastern Australia. Six acoustic receiver...

We investigated whether commercially landed black marlin Istiompax indica were being misidentified by fisheries observers operating throughout the Pacific Ocean. Of 83 samples reported by observers as I. indica, 77% were genetically identified to be blue marlin Makaira nigricans and 2% to be striped marlin Kajikia audax. The high rate of misidentif...

This study investigated and compared the morphology of the electrosensory system of three species of benthic rays. Neotrygon trigonoides, Hemitrygon fluviorum and Maculabatis toshi inhabit similar habitats within Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Like all elasmobranchs, they possess the ability to detect weak electrical fields using their ampulla...

Multiple paternity has been documented as a reproductive strategy in both viviparous and ovoviviparous elasmobranchs, leading to the assumption that multiple mating may be ubiquitous in these fishes. However, with the majority of studies conducted on coastal and nearshore elasmobranchs that often form mating aggregations, parallel studies on pelagi...

Traditionally, large planktivorous elasmobranchs have been thought to predominantly feed on surface zooplankton during daytime hours. However, the recent application of molecular methods to examine long-term assimilated diets, has revealed that these species likely gain the majority from deeper or demersal sources. Signature fatty acid analysis (FA...

Comparison of surface zooplankton signature fatty acid (FA) profiles among sampling months with 95% ellipses. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination of surface zooplankton FA profiles sampled at Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, from August 2013 to October 2013, and August 2014 to September 2014. There was a significant difference among samples (...

Signature fatty acid (FA) profiles (% of total FA ± s.d.) of surface zooplankton collected from Isla de la Plata, Ecuador among sampling months and temperature groupings. Here, the FA profiles of surface zooplankton were significantly different among sampling months and temperature groupings (SIMPER, p <0.05). (DOCX)

Individual Mobula birostris and surface zooplankton fatty acid profiles, along with sampling date and location. (XLSX)

Comparison of surface zooplankton signature fatty acid (FA) profiles between different in situ temperature groupings at time of collection. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination of surface zooplankton FA profiles sampled at Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, from August—October 2013, and August—September 2014. There was a significant difference i...

Signature fatty acid (FA) profiles (% of total FA ± s.d.) of Mobula birostris among sample collection years. The FA profiles of M. birostris were not significantly different among years (ANOSIM, R = 0.04753, p = 0.27). (PDF)

Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) of surface zooplankton fatty acid profiles among cluster groups 1 and 2 (80% similarity). Fatty acids with an average contribution >5% are included and data was not transformed prior to analysis. (PDF)

Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) results of Mobula birostris fatty acid profiles for cluster groups A and B (70% similarity). Fatty acids with an average contribution >5% are included and data was not transformed prior to analysis. (PDF)

Detailed methodology for lipid extraction and signature fatty acid analysis. (DOCX)

The whale shark Rhincodon typus is an endangered, highly migratory species with a wide, albeit patchy, distribution through tropical oceans. Ten aerial survey flights along the southern Mozambican coast, conducted between 2004–2008, documented a relatively high density of whale sharks along a 200 km stretch of the Inhambane Province, with a pronoun...

Direction and step lengths (A) Frequency of directions and (B) the step length frequency for tagged whale sharks.

Map of real track and its 100 random shark tracks An example of the track for whale shark MZ-241 (red) and its 100 random model shark tracks (blue).

Introduction Flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) is part of the first plantar layer of foot intrinsic muscles and a plantar toe flexor. It is normally described with 4 tendons to toes 2-5; elements associated with the fifth toe are variable. Intrinsic foot muscle weakness may be important in foot disorders, but little information is available on paramete...

A survey of tapeworms of galeomorph sharks from Moreton Bay (Queensland, Australia) identified a complex of species of Paraorygmatobothrium Ruhnke, 1994 infecting 11 carcharhiniform and two orectolobiform species. Combined morphological and multi-locus molecular analyses (based on the 28S nuclear ribosomal RNA and partial mitochondrial NADH dehydro...

The black marlin (Istiompax indica) is a highly migratory billfish that occupies waters throughout the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific. To characterize the vertical habitat use of I. indica, we examined the temperature-depth profiles collected using 102 pop-up satellite archival tags deployed off the east coast of Australia. Modelling of envi...

The whale shark Rhincodon typus is an endangered, highly migratory species with a wide, albeit patchy, distribution through tropical oceans. Ten aerial survey flights along the southern Mozambican coast, conducted between 2004–2008, documented a relatively high density of whale sharks along a ~200 km stretch of the Inhambane Province, with a pronou...

The whale shark Rhincodon typus is an endangered, highly migratory species with a wide, albeit patchy, distribution through tropical oceans. Ten aerial survey flights along the southern Mozambican coast, conducted between 2004–2008, documented a relatively high density of whale sharks along a ~200 km stretch of the Inhambane Province, with a pronou...

Population genetic structure using nine polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci was assessed for the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) at seven locations across the Indo-Pacific, and one location in the southern Atlantic. Genetic analyses revealed considerable genetic structuring (FST > 0.14, p < 0.001) between all Indo-Pacific locations and Brazil....

Recent advances in tracking technologies and analytical approaches allow for deeper insights into the movement ecology of wide-ranging fishes. The whale shark Rhincodon typus is an endangered, highly migratory species with a wide, albeit patchy, distribution through tropical oceans. Aerial surveys along the southern Mozambican coast, conducted over...

The longnose skates (Zearaja chilensis and Dipturus trachyderma) are the main component of the elasmobranch fisheries in the south-east Pacific Ocean. Both species are considered to be a single stock by the fishery management in Chile however, little is known about the level of demographic connectivity within the fishery. In this study, we used a g...

Amount of primer stock per microsatellite locus added to primer mix to set up multiplexed PCRs for genotyping Z. chilensis and D. trachyderma. Multiplex numbers are indicated in brackets. (DOCX)

Stable isotope analysis of tissues with different turnover rates allows for a broader temporal view of a species' feeding habits. Epidermal mucus is a rapid to medium turnover 'tissue' in teleost fish, but its use in elasmobranch dietary studies is unknown. In the present study, we conducted stable isotope analysis on mucus and muscle from the gian...

Supplementary information for sample collection, isotope values for individual Manta birostris and surface zooplankton tows, and mixing model summary statistics.Included here is a detailed sample collection protocol for obtaining M. birostris muscle tissue samples from free swimming animals. Additionally, the CN isotope values for individual Manta...

The characterization of diet for the giant manta ray Manta birostris has been problematic given their large-scale movement patterns and the difficulty in obtaining stomach contents from this species. The large majority of existing information is based on observational data limited to feeding events at the sea surface during daylight. Recently disco...

Ethanol storage and lipid and urea extraction had no effect on bluespotted maskray Neotrygon kuhlii muscle δ(13) C values whereas urea-removal and ethanol storage increased δ(15) N values. Results presented here show a significant δ(15) N increase post-urea removal and provide additional support for this approach in future elasmobranch stable-isoto...

Sustainable exploitation of fisheries populations is challenging to achieve when the size of the population prior to exploitation and the actual numbers removed over time and across fishing zones are not clearly known. Quantitative fisheries' modeling is able to address this problem, but accurate and reliable model outcomes depend on high quality i...