Celebrating Ocean Week at Shellharbour City Library

Event Details

Join us for this months very special Nature Talk in the Library, celebrating Ocean Week!

You’ll hear from 3 PhD candidates studying topics and species related to our seas!

Courtney Hildebrandt: Presenting on the topic of Coral Complexity

You know how Nemo has his anemone? Well, Nemo isn’t alone when it comes to having a home on the reef. Another lesser known group of fishes known as coral gobies make reef building corals their home. Just as brightly coloured and with just as bold personalities, my research focuses on this group of fish and their relationship with the corals they occupy, namely how the complex three-dimensional structure of these coral influences the social behaviours of these fish. I’ll touch on the numerous aspects of my research but focus new species, explaining how we can measure coral structures and how this research plays into the bigger picture of coral reef research.

Renae Kirby: Presenting on the topic of Australian Burrowing Shrimp

Many decapod crustaceans are utilised as a prominent bait source in the fisheries industry, and also play critical roles that influence community composition within their ecosystems. However, many species either lack adequate catch regulations or have managements strategies that are based on general ecology alone. These species then have the potential to be over-exploited, resulting in consequences for the species populations, wider ecosystem and fisheries industry. With the help of funding from DPI Fisheries, my research has aimed to better understand the Australian endemic burrowing shrimp , Trypaea australiensis (aka Nippers or Ghost Shrimp). For my talk, I will highlight some of my research findings that involved ecological field surveys, novel laboratory-controlled behavioural experiments and population genetic analyses. With this knowledge and holistic approach to understanding species ecology, future management strategies have the potential to be improved upon. Ultimately ensuring this important ecosystem engineer and fisheries source is sustained for both present and future generations.