Records of the Western Australian Museum 18: 109-112 (1996). 
Short Communication 
New records of reef and shore fishes from northwestern Australia 
Gerald R. Allen 
Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia 6000 
The fish fauna of reefs and shoals on the outer 
edge of Australia's North-West Shelf was 
summarised by Allen and Russell (1986) and Allen 
(1993). They reported 833 species, mainly from 
Rowley Shoals, Scott-Seringapatam Reefs, 
Ashmore Reef, and Cartier Island. Hutchins et al 
(1995) recorded 45 additional species from the area. 
The present paper reports 49 new records of reef 
and shore fishes for Western Australia, including 
15 that are new to Australian seas. The fishes were 
collected or observed by the author on three 
expeditions between 1991 and 1994. The first of 
these involved a survey of coastal localities and 
offshore islands in the Kimberley region between 
Wyndham and Broome for 17 days in August 1991. 
A second trip of 19 days duration visited the 
Monte Bello Islands in August 1993. The final trip, 
in September 1994, made collections and 
observations at offshore reefs including Scott, 
Seringapatam, Ashmore, Hibernia, and Cartier, as 
well as Cassini Island on the Kimberley coast. 
Collections were obtained with a chemical 
ichthyocide (rotenone powder) and a small multi¬ 
prong hand spear. In addition, a series of visual 
Table 1 Locality data for new fish records from 
Western Australia. 
Location 
Latitude and Longitude 
Scott Reef 
14°02'S, 
121°52'E 
Seringapatam Reef 
13°38'S, 
122°01'E 
Ashmore Reef 
12 0 1TS, 
123°07'E 
Cartier Reef 
12°32'S, 
123°33'E 
Hibernia Reef 
ir58'S, 
123°21'E 
Monte Bello Islands 
20°25'S, 
U5°30'E 
Powerful Island 
16°05'S, 
123°27'E 
Lord & Byron Islands 
16 o 10S, 
123°28'E 
Beagle Reef 
15°21'S, 
123°32'E 
Churchill Reef 
15°31'S, 
123°17'E 
Prince Regent River 
15°37'S, 
125°18'E 
Rob Roy Reef 
14°25'S, 
124°51'E 
West Montalivet Island 
14°17'S, 
125°13'E 
near Cleghorn Island 
14°22'S, 
125°25'E 
near Descartes Island 
i4°irs, 
125°38'E 
near Fenelon Island 
14°09'S, 
125°39'E 
Cassini Island 
13°56'S, 
125°37'E 
Long Reef 
13°48'S, 
125°47'E 
Scorpion Island 
13°52'S, 
126°36'E 
Tranquil Bay 
13°56'S, 
127°18'E 
King George River 
14°03'S, 
127°20'E 
transects were conducted with the use of SCUBA. 
Underwater photographs, now deposited in the 
files of the Western Australian Museum (WAM), 
were taken of many species and form the basis of 
several of the records listed below. 
The list of new records for Western Australia is 
presented below. An additional list includes 
species that were collected for the first time on 
reefs and islands along the Kimberley Coast, 
although they are known from offshore sites such 
as Rowley Shoals and Ashmore Reef. The 
approximate latitude and longitude for the various 
localities mentioned in these lists are indicated in 
Table 1. 
Three species, also obtained in these collections, 
are not included in the present list. They represent 
new taxa and have been described elsewhere: 
Pseudochromis howsoni Allen (1994a), a 
pseudochromid from Ashmore Reef; 
Amblyglyphidodon batunai Allen (1994b), a 
pomacentrid observed at Churchill Reef, and 
Cirrhilabrus randalli Allen (1995) from Rowley 
Shoals, Scott-Seringapatam Reefs, Ashmore Reef, 
and Cartier Reef. 
Two additional new taxa, Gymnothorax sp. 
(Kimberley coastal islands) and Notograptus sp. 
(Montgomery Reef and Scorpion Island, Kimberley 
coast), were also collected. They will eventually be 
described by the author. An undescribed species of 
Opistognathus was observed at Hibernia Reef. It is 
widespread in Indonesia (see Kuiter 1992: 144, for 
illustrations). 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The 1991 Kimberley coast fieldwork was 
supported by the National Estate Program, an 
Australian Commonwealth financed grants scheme 
administered by the Australian Heritage 
Commission (Federal Government) and the 
Western Australian Heritage Committee (State 
Government). Additional funds for the 1991 work 
were provided by the Australian Geographic Pty 
Ltd and Mr Harry Butler, Honorary Associate of 
the Western Australian Museum. Tine survey of 
the Monte Bellos Islands in 1993 was part of an 
Ocean Rescue 2000 Project, funded by the Western 
Australian Government through the Western 
Australian Department of Conservation and Land 
